Campaign Negavity, So Strong, So Early

At least a couple of reports are out analyzing the presidential campaign ads thus far and to no surprise to anyone paying attention, the Bush ads are strongly focused on dumping negativity on the issue of John Kerry. The major report says that Bush negativity in ads is running at an astounding 76+%, while Kerry's ad are unfavorable to Bush about 28% of the time.

Aside from what candidate each of us supports, it's sad to see this go on. I'm glad to see that Kerry isn't indulging in the same hatefulness. But it also tells me that Bush's people realize they can't run just on the strength of their candidate (perhaps because his record is pretty shabby). After all, for all the talk of the great economy, it's really not all that hot. His cabinet is consumed with press ops and snarking at one another. We're probably less, not more safe, because of the actions Bush has taken. And all that talk of freedom is just talk: Bush and company has done more to undo the freedoms promised to us under the Constitution than perhaps any other president in history (and we've had some bad moments in the past).

Whether you look at the issue of health care, education for the young, supporting the troops with anything more than lip service, care for our elderly, women's issues, equitability in taxation, the economy, national safety, our position in the world - there's really nothing that Bush has not affected badly in his tenure.

Even if we can unseat him in November, it will take years to undo the damage his administration has wrought. And that's even sadder than the negativity in the campaign ads thus far.