UNITED STATES—We all know that the mid-terms elections are fast approaching, but I am so over the political ads. I get it; the candidates have to run ads to promote themselves and get the word out there, but why are nearly 90 percent of the ads that are run on TV all negative. I don’t know how else to explain this America, but it boggles my mind and not in a good way whatsoever people. You have political candidates who refuse to acknowledge in any shape, way or fashion, a way to discuss things that are not geared completely at attacking their opponent.
I get you have to show the potential voters or the public why their opponent is not good for them, but how is the public supposedly to know if what you’re telling them is 100 percent accurate. Most Americans don’t. They are going out on a limb based on what they hear and repeated exposure of information at some point begins to stick with Americans. You can only hear an ad so many times before it starts to register in your brain that perhaps what I am hearing might have some truth in it.
However, as a voter I do not care about fingers being pointed, I care about the truth. I want to know what you’re going to do for me if I cast my ballot for you. What is your political history first and foremost? Do you have a history in politics? What do you know about government? What bills and laws have you voted for or against in the past? Are you being honest in your truth? Do you have skeletons in your closet? It is more important to know where a politician stands on particular issues than to have a politician feeding you a bunch of stuff they want you to hear.
Tell me what you’re going to do for me if I elect you into office. Tell me how you being elected over your opponent will be a benefit to me. I have seen so many negative ads in the past 6 weeks it is literally driving me crazy because I have no idea what the candidates actually stand for. You telling me every bad thing about your opponent, but nothing about you. That does nothing for me when it comes to casting a ballot. I know all the bad, but I care about the good.
It seems year after year this has always been the trend when it comes to politics. Run a campaign predicated on negative ads, but you share nothing with the people about who you are and what you do, and if candidates do so it is very limited in scope. Why is that the case? Why hasn’t anyone tried to turn the trend to focus more on the positive and less on the negative? Perhaps because this is something that has been prevalent in this country since the dawn of the two political parties: Republicans and Democrats. Things have not changed and to be quite honest I do not see that ever changing America.
There seems to be this playback when it comes to politics and no one wants to go against the grain and do something that is outside of the box, like telling the truth and not deflecting. There is so much negativity in the world right now with inflation, violence, crime and the economy. Do the American people need more of that as a result of nonstop political ads that literally run on TV 24/7? The answer to that question is absolutely not. I cannot wait ’till November 9 because it means I don’t have to worry about seeing any political ads for a few months at least that is my hope.
Written By Zoe Mitchell
