Promotional or Attacking?

Watching your TV is a common activity to escape daily responsibilities. You can choose to watch any show you like, but whether you are watching local news, reality television or a show on weddings there are some things you cannot escape, commercials. Specifically political commercials.
We have all seen them, showing the opponent with a dark background, dramatic music and who would forget the all important graphics detailing their multiple lies and failures. Watching these interrupt my broadcast makes me wonder why would any candidate trying to portray a friendly and caring reputation want to approve anything to be broadcasted like this? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of all the staging they have done to show the public how wonderful of a person they are?

This inspired me to dig a little deeper. Referencing our book by Graber I found that if you are a candidate in any political campaign you absolutely must use the television to promote yourself or risk being an unknown name on the poll. Political campaigns have always attempted to slash their opponent whether it was a debate amongst the people or in any other form of advertising. When you begin to think about a political candidate, if you have seen their political advertisements on TV, you'll remember them in a background usually with the American flag waving, them slamming their fist down on a desk fighting for what you want them to or surrounded by children teaching them about what it's like to be them. You will never remember they produced any other advertisements showing another candidate with a gloomy lighting explaining how much wrong they have done, which once elected they promise won't happen again, but it always does.
Although this article is dated, it really can explain how simple this problem can be, and how easily it is forgotten.
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/20/us/this-time-forbes-chooses-subtle-over-slashing-in-ads.html