Comments on: Attack ads http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/ hopping along the corridors of power Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:25:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: 08wire http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62741 08wire Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:06:53 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62741 Frog I think Bryce is right - you're happy condemning everybody else when they go negative, but reserve the right to go ad hominem and simplistic and negative yourself. That isn't cool. I'm happy for everyone to go as negative and hunourous as they like. It turns out the negative effects of negativity on democracy are hugely over-stated, and that negative advertising actually causes interest and participation in democracy to **rise** among partisans (Lau and Pomper 2001 if you want the reference). And guess the partisanship level of political blog readers. Lastly, you don't think our tongue is in our cheek just a little bit when we do our ads? Maybe our underlying message was that Key and the Nats prioritise monetary causes of happiness more than Team LPG, who are more likely to promote non-monetary causes of increased utility. But try putting that into a 30 second ad without coming across as a boring dork. Lighten up, Frog! Frog

I think Bryce is right – you’re happy condemning everybody else when they go negative, but reserve the right to go ad hominem and simplistic and negative yourself. That isn’t cool.

I’m happy for everyone to go as negative and hunourous as they like. It turns out the negative effects of negativity on democracy are hugely over-stated, and that negative advertising actually causes interest and participation in democracy to **rise** among partisans (Lau and Pomper 2001 if you want the reference). And guess the partisanship level of political blog readers.

Lastly, you don’t think our tongue is in our cheek just a little bit when we do our ads? Maybe our underlying message was that Key and the Nats prioritise monetary causes of happiness more than Team LPG, who are more likely to promote non-monetary causes of increased utility. But try putting that into a 30 second ad without coming across as a boring dork.

Lighten up, Frog!

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]]> By: Bryce http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62727 Bryce Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:01:03 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62727 Some great points here, but aren't the Greens rather hypocritical on this. Even in this current campaign the Greens have been using negative, personal attacks in your advertising. Take, for example, your viral video on YouTube. In this, you attack Trevor Mallard over his fight with Tau Henare, bring up stuff about Ron Mark, John Key etc. In light of your above critique, what's your defence of this? Or does this viral video prove that the Greens just the same as the other negative, trivial parties? When you focus on the Trevor Mallard assault in your campaigning, aren't you just as guilty for acting to 'abuse or denigrate their opponents' which 'shows a lack of vision and commitment to improving things for New Zealanders'? Bryce www.liberation.org.nz Some great points here, but aren’t the Greens rather hypocritical on this. Even in this current campaign the Greens have been using negative, personal attacks in your advertising. Take, for example, your viral video on YouTube. In this, you attack Trevor Mallard over his fight with Tau Henare, bring up stuff about Ron Mark, John Key etc. In light of your above critique, what’s your defence of this? Or does this viral video prove that the Greens just the same as the other negative, trivial parties? When you focus on the Trevor Mallard assault in your campaigning, aren’t you just as guilty for acting to ‘abuse or denigrate their opponents’ which ’shows a lack of vision and commitment to improving things for New Zealanders’?

Bryce
http://www.liberation.org.nz

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]]> By: frog http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62725 frog Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:55:34 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62725 While we (or to be more accurate just me) are on the topic of negative campaigning, check out this <a href=http://08wire.org/2008/10/29/video-money-vs-beautiful-children/ rel="nofollow">juvenile effort</a> from 08wire. Does anyone honestly believe that John Key loves money and hates children, while Helen Clark selflessly tends to children in their hospital beds. If you disagree with Key's finance and investment policies and their likely impact on child poverty good on ya, you're probably right. But these efforts to paint National as a evil rather than wrong are over the top and just make the accusers look either foolish or dishonest. That's the main reason I have an ongoing problem with 08wire - it often campaigns in a destructive and mean way, and then keeps linking the Greens to their team LPG efforts, as though we would support that kind of thing. (Well, that and the fact that it continues to treat the Greens like an offshoot of Labour rather than a separate party with a distinct political position.) While we (or to be more accurate just me) are on the topic of negative campaigning, check out this juvenile effort from 08wire.

Does anyone honestly believe that John Key loves money and hates children, while Helen Clark selflessly tends to children in their hospital beds. If you disagree with Key’s finance and investment policies and their likely impact on child poverty good on ya, you’re probably right. But these efforts to paint National as a evil rather than wrong are over the top and just make the accusers look either foolish or dishonest.

That’s the main reason I have an ongoing problem with 08wire – it often campaigns in a destructive and mean way, and then keeps linking the Greens to their team LPG efforts, as though we would support that kind of thing. (Well, that and the fact that it continues to treat the Greens like an offshoot of Labour rather than a separate party with a distinct political position.)

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]]> By: frog http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62723 frog Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:43:08 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/10/29/attack-ads/#comment-62723 <a href=http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2008/10/the_double_negative.php?utm_source=seedmag-main&utm_medium=rss rel="nofollow">Seed Magazine</a> has an article discussing if evolution science can explain both the appeal and recent failings of negative campaigning: <blockquote>Fear and anxiety have both had starring turns in the run-up to this year's US presidential election, and both campaigns have had their ugly moments. And yet, in the last three weeks, it is the McCain-Palin campaign that has turned resoundingly negative and Barack Obama who seems to be simply dodging the blows, counterpunching only rarely, and building a substantial lead in the process.</blockquote> Seed Magazine has an article discussing if evolution science can explain both the appeal and recent failings of negative campaigning:

Fear and anxiety have both had starring turns in the run-up to this year’s US presidential election, and both campaigns have had their ugly moments. And yet, in the last three weeks, it is the McCain-Palin campaign that has turned resoundingly negative and Barack Obama who seems to be simply dodging the blows, counterpunching only rarely, and building a substantial lead in the process.

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