As November rolls around, the fun jingles of catchy tunes of advertisements fade from view. The entire advertising market slowly fills up with one thing: a cesspool of political ads from every party and for every position both nationwide and local. Commercials, radio breaks, social media posts and paper mail fill the nation with political propaganda. In recent years, a dangerous trend has emerged. Political ads have strayed away from supporting a candidate’s views or policies and instead resort to name calling and bashing any political opposition. This lack of maturity distracts viewers from what is important and polarizes our nation in a way that is detrimental to our democracy.
This shift in political rhetoric has brought the nation to the antithesis of how debate and discourse was performed by past leaders of our country. One of the most prominent examples of civil political discourse was during the first Kennedy-Nixon debate on Sept. 26, 1960. During his opening remarks, Vice-President Richard Nixon described the contrasting views of the two candidates in a way that would be unheard of today.
“Let us understand that through this campaign, his motives and mine are sincere. I know Senator Kennedy cares as deeply about these problems as I do, but our disagreement is not about the goals for America but only about the means to reach those goals,” Nixon said.
One large factor on why hate ads have become so prevalent in today’s election is their effectiveness, in part due to social media. Modern Media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok incentivise sensationalism. Social media amplifies personal attacks and generates significantly more engagement from viewers than nuanced or boring policy discussions. This “rage bait” or “clickbait” phenomenon gains views and attention at the sacrifice of accuracy, honesty and ethics.
Though it is completely detrimental to our nation’s political understanding and ability to elect competent leaders, the effectiveness of clickbait headlines makes perfect sense. What story sounds more engaging? “Candidate A signs legislation to adjust public transportation routes” or “BREAKING: Candidate B proposes INSANE bill that BANS pizza!” Obviously, that is a fun and slightly ridiculous example, but it showcases how even if a source is clearly uncredible, it can become difficult to not click or view a more engaging story as opposed to a more credible but boring one.
The name calling and defamation of an opponent’s character has a vast effect on public perception. If a radical lie is told, even if disproven or fact checked, its weight and connotation can create a lasting negative impact. This is especially effective when both candidates throw out insults at each other in what would be equivalent to a screaming match at an elementary school playground. Vice-President Kamala Harris referred to her opponent as a “Predator”, “Fraudster”, “Cheater” and “unable to to comprehend anything other than service to himself.” Former President Donald Trump showed enough class to dish out terms like “RADICAL LEFT MARXIST, AND WORSE”, “Dumb as a Rock Kamala Harris” and “Stone cold phony.”
The ramifications of our political leaders sharing tactics with school yard bullies stretch far and wide. One of the larger issues is that all time spent name calling is time not being spent on issues that actually matter. This leads to less time being spent on policy discourse and reduces voters’ ability to make wise and informed choices about who represents their values and interests. Overall, it makes them look like bickering children.
The United States has over 300 million citizens. Out of these 300 million, voters’ preferred candidate among the two choices for President are commonly referred to as “the lesser of two evils.” The political state of the country is increasingly getting more polarized between the two parties, and many news sources are getting dragged to the poles with them. The rage bait and name calling from elected officials is detrimental to the foundations of our democracy and is forcing the country down a slippery slope of political turmoil.
In order to combat the pests plaguing the election season, avoid clicking articles and news sources that seem to have a strong bias or “too-good-to-be- true” headlines. Research and make informed political decisions about policy and plans of each candidate. Do not respond to or interact with senseless name calling and fact check all sources when possible. Most importantly, make sure to make a mark of the future of the nation. Cast a ballot and be heard.