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Fighting in the gutter: Cautionary lessons from America’s vicious election campaign
There is a price to be paid for decades of ever-coarser negative campaigning in the US.
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Political strategists note that, as the US election day looms, attacks are often more effective than positive messages at energising supporters and unsettling opponents.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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It might seem almost naive to gripe about the surge of negative campaigning and outright nasty rhetoric sweeping through the United States in these final days of the presidential race.
But the reality is attack ads and mudslinging have long been woven into the fabric of US politics, intensifying with each election – a trend well under way even before Donald Trump’s 2016 run took campaign trail debasement to new lows. And this isn’t just a casual outsider’s view; research backs it up.
