(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)
Sir,
The local election campaign has not even been formally announced, yet the political parties are already indulging in the blame game (‘Leader’s anger at inaccurate and libellous election leaflet’, page 4, Monday 26 March).
The offending comment was not confined to Clase and Clasemont, but is also contained in a leaflet distributed by Labour candidates in Uplands & Brynmill.
One would perhaps have more sympathy for Council Leader Chris Holley’s sense of injustice were it not for the fact that the Lib Dems are the masters when it comes to negative campaigning in elections. But it’s depressing to see that Labour has now caught the bug.
When are the main parties going to realise that this kind of campaigning is just one more factor that is turning people off engagement in the political process?
Voters are not stupid. We’re perfectly capable of deciding for ourselves what’s right and wrong about the council and our local councillors. We don’t need a constant drip-feed of party motivated bile to guide us in our decision-making.
It would be better if candidates focussed on what they have to offer, rather than constantly pointing out what’s allegedly wrong with their opponents; giving us a positive campaign rather than the constant negativity we’ve become accustomed to.
That might just encourage a few more people to vote.
Yours,
Keith M Ross, Green Party Candidate, Uplands & Brynmill Ward
Swansea Greens - Historic Blog 
Posted by swanseaandllanelligreenparty on March 28, 2012 at 9:43 am
Edited version of the letter in today’s Evening Post: http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Negativity-voter-turn/story-15644407-detail/story.html
Posted by party bars nyc on April 4, 2012 at 3:05 am
“Negative campaigning,” also known as “mudslinging”, attempts to win an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent, or the opponent’s policy, rather than emphasizing one’s own positive attributes or preferred policies.