The local strategy has been simple, effective and underhanded. Work hard on campaigning and then, just before an election, saturate the market with a negative ad ripping an opponent more than building up the supported candidate. Sad thing is, that approach works. Even if most Americans hate it. An interesting poll published in the December AARP Bulletin broke down responses by age of the 1,027 adults participating in the poll. The two age groups, 18 to 49 and 50-plus, were in essentially complete agreement on only one of eight questions: Do you think discouraging negative advertising would improve the campaign process? On that one, 76 percent of the younger group said yes, and 77 percent of the older group said yes/Mike Patrick, Coeur d'Alene Press editorial. More here.

Question: If we all say we hate negative campaigning so much, why is it so effective?