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Mudslingers : the top 25 negative political campaigns of all time : countdown from no. 25 to no. 1 / Kerwin C. Swint.

By: Publication details: Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2006.Description: xv, 254 p. : ill. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0275985105 (alk. paper)
Other title:
  • Top 25 negative political campaigns of all time
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 324.7/0973 22
LOC classification:
  • JK2281 .S8798 2006
Contents:
25: "From Vietnam to Iraq" : George W. Bush v. John Kerry, President, 2004 -- 24: "It's a Jungle Out There" : Upton Sinclair v. Frank Merriam, Governor, California, 1934 -- 23: "Senator Pothole v. 'Putzhead'" : Alphonse D'Amato v. Charles Schumer, U.S. Senate, New York, 1998 -- 22: "Electronic Mudslinging" : Lyndon Johnson v. Barry Goldwater, President, 1964 -- 21: "The Art of War" : Jesse Helms v. Harvey Gantt, U.S. Senate, North Carolina, 1990 -- 20: "Homo Sapiens, Thespians, and Extroverts" : Claude Pepper v. George Smathers, U.S. Senate, Florida, 1950 -- 19: "Vote for the Crook: It's Important" : Edwin Edwards v. David Duke, Governor, Louisiana, 1991 -- 18: "Who's the Boss?": Richard Daley v. Robert Merriam, Mayor, Chicago, 1955 -- 17: "Polluting the Garden State": Frank Lautenberg v. Pete Dawkins, U.S. Senate, New Jersey, 1988 -- 16: "God Save the Republic...Please" : Rutherford Hayes v. Samuel Tilden, President, 1876 -- 15: "Rudy and the Jets" : Rudolf Giuliani v. David Dinkins, Mayor, New York City, 1993 -- 14: "A Jersey Street Fight" : Robert Torricelli v. Richard Zimmer, U.S. Senate, New Jersey, 1996 -- 13: "In this Corner...Little Lord Fauntleroy?" : John Tower v. Robert Krueger, U.S. Senate, Texas, 1978 -- 12: "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" : Charles Robb v. Oliver North, U.S. Senate, 1994 -- 11: "Claytie v. The Lady" : Clayton Williams v. Ann Richards, Governor, Texas, 1990 -- 10: "Richard Nixon v. The United States of America" : Richard Nixon v. George McGovern, President, 1972 -- 9: "Bye-Bye Blackbird" : Harold Washington v. Bernard Epton, Mayor, Chicago, 1983 -- 8: "America, Meet Willie Horton" : George H.W. Bush v. Michael Dukakis, President, 1988 -- 7: "Tricky Dick v. The Pink Lady" : Richard Nixon v. Helen Gahagan Douglas, U.S. Senate, California, 1950 -- 6: "Grantism and Mr. Greeley" : Ulysses S. Grant v. Horace Greeley, President, 1872 -- 5: "The First Campaign" : Thomas Jefferson v. John Adams, 1800 -- 4: "A House Divided" : Abraham Lincoln v. George McClellan, President, 1864 -- 3: "Mud, Mugwumps, and Motherhood" : Grover Cleveland v. James G. Blaine, President, 1884 -- 2: "The Dirtiest Campaign in American History?" : Andrew Jackson v. John Quincy Adams, President 1828 -- 1: "George Wallace and the Negro Block Vote" : George Wallace v. Albert Brewer, Governor, Alabama, 1970.
Summary: Publisher description: Americans have a love-hate relationship with negative campaigning, claiming to despise it and ranting about how it turns off the electorate, while at the same time paying an increasing amount of attention to negative ads and tactics during ever-lengthening campaign seasons. Swint gathers the most compelling of these campaigns from the two "Golden Ages" of negative campaigning--1864 to 1892 and 1988 to the present--in addition to some that fall outside those demarcations, and ranks them in descending order, from No. 25 to No. 1. Mudslingers covers presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial, and mayoral races and chronicles the dirtiest, most low-down campaign tactics of all time. The list includes the presidential campaign of 1800, when the disputed outcome of the race between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had to be decided by the House of Representatives, and the election of 2004, in which George W. Bush beat John Kerry after one of the nastiest showdowns on record. The first round of negative campaigning in American history was driven by post-Civil War politics, the end of Reconstruction, an increasingly corrupt federal government, and a rabid partisan press. The current Golden Age of mudslinging and dirty politics is driven by huge increases in campaign spending, television advertising, decreased civility in public life, and a muckraking mass media. These fascinating stories from the annals of negative campaigning will entertain as well as educate, reminding us, the next time we are tempted to decry the current climate, that it was (almost) ever thus.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-250) and index.

25: "From Vietnam to Iraq" : George W. Bush v. John Kerry, President, 2004 -- 24: "It's a Jungle Out There" : Upton Sinclair v. Frank Merriam, Governor, California, 1934 -- 23: "Senator Pothole v. 'Putzhead'" : Alphonse D'Amato v. Charles Schumer, U.S. Senate, New York, 1998 -- 22: "Electronic Mudslinging" : Lyndon Johnson v. Barry Goldwater, President, 1964 -- 21: "The Art of War" : Jesse Helms v. Harvey Gantt, U.S. Senate, North Carolina, 1990 -- 20: "Homo Sapiens, Thespians, and Extroverts" : Claude Pepper v. George Smathers, U.S. Senate, Florida, 1950 -- 19: "Vote for the Crook: It's Important" : Edwin Edwards v. David Duke, Governor, Louisiana, 1991 -- 18: "Who's the Boss?": Richard Daley v. Robert Merriam, Mayor, Chicago, 1955 -- 17: "Polluting the Garden State": Frank Lautenberg v. Pete Dawkins, U.S. Senate, New Jersey, 1988 -- 16: "God Save the Republic...Please" : Rutherford Hayes v. Samuel Tilden, President, 1876 -- 15: "Rudy and the Jets" : Rudolf Giuliani v. David Dinkins, Mayor, New York City, 1993 -- 14: "A Jersey Street Fight" : Robert Torricelli v. Richard Zimmer, U.S. Senate, New Jersey, 1996 -- 13: "In this Corner...Little Lord Fauntleroy?" : John Tower v. Robert Krueger, U.S. Senate, Texas, 1978 -- 12: "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" : Charles Robb v. Oliver North, U.S. Senate, 1994 -- 11: "Claytie v. The Lady" : Clayton Williams v. Ann Richards, Governor, Texas, 1990 -- 10: "Richard Nixon v. The United States of America" : Richard Nixon v. George McGovern, President, 1972 -- 9: "Bye-Bye Blackbird" : Harold Washington v. Bernard Epton, Mayor, Chicago, 1983 -- 8: "America, Meet Willie Horton" : George H.W. Bush v. Michael Dukakis, President, 1988 -- 7: "Tricky Dick v. The Pink Lady" : Richard Nixon v. Helen Gahagan Douglas, U.S. Senate, California, 1950 -- 6: "Grantism and Mr. Greeley" : Ulysses S. Grant v. Horace Greeley, President, 1872 -- 5: "The First Campaign" : Thomas Jefferson v. John Adams, 1800 -- 4: "A House Divided" : Abraham Lincoln v. George McClellan, President, 1864 -- 3: "Mud, Mugwumps, and Motherhood" : Grover Cleveland v. James G. Blaine, President, 1884 -- 2: "The Dirtiest Campaign in American History?" : Andrew Jackson v. John Quincy Adams, President 1828 -- 1: "George Wallace and the Negro Block Vote" : George Wallace v. Albert Brewer, Governor, Alabama, 1970.

Publisher description: Americans have a love-hate relationship with negative campaigning, claiming to despise it and ranting about how it turns off the electorate, while at the same time paying an increasing amount of attention to negative ads and tactics during ever-lengthening campaign seasons. Swint gathers the most compelling of these campaigns from the two "Golden Ages" of negative campaigning--1864 to 1892 and 1988 to the present--in addition to some that fall outside those demarcations, and ranks them in descending order, from No. 25 to No. 1. Mudslingers covers presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial, and mayoral races and chronicles the dirtiest, most low-down campaign tactics of all time. The list includes the presidential campaign of 1800, when the disputed outcome of the race between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had to be decided by the House of Representatives, and the election of 2004, in which George W. Bush beat John Kerry after one of the nastiest showdowns on record. The first round of negative campaigning in American history was driven by post-Civil War politics, the end of Reconstruction, an increasingly corrupt federal government, and a rabid partisan press. The current Golden Age of mudslinging and dirty politics is driven by huge increases in campaign spending, television advertising, decreased civility in public life, and a muckraking mass media. These fascinating stories from the annals of negative campaigning will entertain as well as educate, reminding us, the next time we are tempted to decry the current climate, that it was (almost) ever thus.

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