In the Jan. 22 edition of New York Magazine, journalist Joe Hagan said this year’s campaign will ”be the most negative in the history of American politics.”

While his piece was great reading, his statement may just be hyperbole. I love it when journalists talk about things being the “most,” “worst,” “best,” etc., without any real justification. It is just pure hyperbole without research. What he meant to say is that it will be the most negative in recent memory or recent history. And even that might be questionable.

One good example of a truly negative campaign was the 1800 election between John Adams, a Federalist, and Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican (the party was founded by Jefferson and was commonly known at the time as simply Republican). It was so contention and caused a sea change in American politics that it is often referred to as the Revolution of 1800. It also, because of a tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, also a Democratic-Republican who was supposed to be running for vice president, was sent to the House of Representatives to decide the winner. That resulted in a change in how elections were held.

This video from Reason uses the candidates’ own words to give just a sampling of how nasty the candidates were. The only difference is that we have television today, which allows the nastiness to move at the speed of light.

However, it is all just politics. We shouldn’t be too concerned as the nastiness does serve a purpose, especially given that we can no longer trust the national press corps to give us real coverage.

As Reason.TV says:

Have this year’s negative political ads really “taken dirty to a whole new level, as CNN’s Anderson Cooper frets? Is a “return to civility…a relic of a bygone era,” as President Barack Obama laments?

Er, not exactly.

If anonymous political speech, the other widely decried villain of this political season, helped found the United States, attack ads are as American as apple pie. If you fancy yourself a patriot or a history buff, you will most certainly approve this message, which is taken from statements made by, for, and against the nation’s founders.

Approximately 1.45 minutes. Written and produced by Meredith Bragg. Voiced by Caleb Brown, Michael C. Moynihan, and Austin Bragg.

Check out “The Positives of Negative Campaigning,” why “Attack Ads Are Good For You.” and Reason’s 2006 list of the “Top 10 Dirtiest Political Campaigns” in U.S. history.

For links to those stories and historical sources of the statements made in the video go to
http://reason.tv/video/show/the-negative-campaign-of-1800

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