The tale of negative campaigning.
Negative campaigning is the process of deliberately spreading negative information about someone to worsen their public image and reputation. It is a campaigner’s dishonest ideas on methods of winning in politics against an honest rival. And it is happening right here in Boca Raton, creating a vicious cycle of attack politics driven by candidates.
Every election cycle brings with it a slew of negative campaign advertising in all forms: television, print, direct mail, email, and online. And at a certain point in every election cycle, these negative ads are a leading driver of the fatigue so many of us feel.
Many of the smear campaigns come from political consultants and PACS who generally run campaigns and come up with these ads. However, the candidate must approve these ads before they are blasted over local television networks, printed, mailed, emailed, and posted online. It makes you wonder, who is really behind this candidate and does the candidate share the same moral ethics and values? Would they use the same tone with their constituents and coworkers if elected?
The next time you hear or see someone criticize the actions of another during any election, ask yourself: What does this tell me about the person who is doing the criticizing? What positive message is the candidate for City Council portraying by saying “I approve this message?” In most cases regarding the March 9th election, you will not find a positive message. A candidate running for local office may think that going negative will weaken their opponent, but it does so at the cost of demonstrating their own weak character.
As a nation we have experienced one of the most trying periods in recent history, as a City we are looking to our local leaders to inspire confidence not conflict
Final Thoughts
For candidates running for City Council in Boca Raton: Run on your merits and stop putting your competition down.
For voters: Do your research. Follow the money (click here for donation reports). Get to know your elected officials and why they endorse incumbents in local elections. Look around and see who your neighbors are supporting and who commercial developers are backing. And do not forget to vote on March 9th. You can find your polling location here.
