4	How necessary is so-called 'negative' advertising?

KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON replies: We don't like to use the word "negative" because when we use "negative," people hear "dirty" or "illegitimate." When in fact a lot of attack is perfectly legitimate and important discourse. If you don't have attack in politics, you're not likely to find out about the weaknesses of the opponent. The opponent isn't likely to indicate what those are on his or her own. So we prefer to say that you can divide the world of discourse up into that which attacks and makes a case against, that which advocates and makes a case for, and that which does both in the same message-- it contrasts. If one looks at the world that way, then the amount of attack has never been very high in politics. It's very low in speeches. It's comparatively low in debates. It's higher in ads, but even in ads it rarely approaches fifty percent of the message content. So those who are concerned about the level of attack in politics, first, are concerned about something that is not the dominant form, but secondly, are concerned with something which has actually been declining in recent years as candidates have recognized that an ad that contrasts is a more powerful ad.		Quicktime movie RealVideo file

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