Even The Founding Fathers Ran Negative Political Advertising

Nov. 1, 2008 - PRLog -- Herndon, Virginia,  – As Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden called on his Republican opponents to cease negative campaigns in the last days before the election, veteran political journalist David Mark told Book Help Web in an exclusive interview that the practice goes all the way back to the Founding Fathers.

“In the election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Adams was accused of being a monarchist who wanted to move the country to a monarchy under Britain and France,” Mark told Book Help Web.  “That was a very sensitive issue since the Revolutionary War had just come to a conclusion a generation before. Thomas Jefferson was accused, in very rough terms, of being a misogynist and of having an affair with a black lady (which, apparently, turned out to be true).

The web site for book lovers interviewed Mark, the author of “Going Dirty: The Art of Negative Campaigning” as part of its Between the Lines interview series.  Past interviewees have included historian David McCullough, beloved movie star Alan Alda and bestselling authors such as Jodi Picoult, Kim Edwards and Janet Evanovich.

“We were drawn to David Mark because his is the definitive work on negative campaigning,” interviewer George Bounacos said.  “His perspective that negative campaigns can serve to ‘draw out the issues, the distinctions and differences that the candidates don't want to really discuss’ is an important point and highly relevant while Americans attend to task of electing our next President.

Mark’s book and his position as a senior editor at Politico have brought the author and his message to a variety of news and entertainment media, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  Mark’s Book Help Web interview sheds light on some prominent campaigns throughout American history and how the art of negative campaigning has evolved from the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson to George W. Bush.

The review is located online at http://book.consumerhelpweb.com.  


About Consumer Help Web, Inc.

A network of consumer sites, offering information and advocacy, Consumer Help Web reaches thousands of Internet users every day.  The network’s Book channel includes exclusive interviews, awards information, author profiles and reviews.   Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the network features the work of dozens of authors and interviewers throughout North America.   The organization’s corporate site is on the Internet at http://www.ConsumerHelpWeb.com.

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