Sticks, stones might break bones, but will attack ads hurt hopefuls?
JANUARY 20, 2008
(DAILY HERALD) —
Negative campaigning is certainly nothing new in politics and should even be expected in a close race like this one, where a total of seven candidates are vying to replace retired longtime U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert, noted Roosevelt University Professor Paul Green, who has been following the race.
"Everyone says they don't like negative ads, but those are the ones they pay attention to," said Green, director of the university's Institute for Politics. "The money that's spent on negative ads is enormous. … If they didn't work, they wouldn't be spending the money."
Attack ads also present the opportunity for a politician to separate himself from his opponent, he said.
"When you have two candidates like this who are so close on the issues, you have to find ways of distinguishing between them," Green said.
Among the Democratic hopefuls, the race has been much more civil -- a point that isn't lost among those on that side of the aisle who are hoping to turn the seat blue in the Nov. 4 general election.
"The Republicans are fighting amongst themselves so much that they're fracturing their base, and that's helping us out a lot," said Andrew Dupuy, a spokesman for Democrat Bill Foster's campaign. "With a couple weeks to go, they've passed the tipping point of any kind of unified Republican electorate. I don't think it will resonate well" with voters.
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