BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Negative rhetoric ramps up ahead of midterm elections

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

(NewsNation) — At a virtual campaign event Thursday night, just 18 days out from the election, Oprah Winfrey asked and answered her own question:

What can voters do to help Democratic hopeful Georgia governor Stacey Abrams, whom polls show is trailing Republican incumbent Brian Kemp?

“The biggest answer is you vote because too much is at stake not to,” Oprah said. “What will happen if you don’t vote? It’s really frightening.”

Playing to the fears of voters has become a common occurrence this midterms election cycle.

“The streets of our once great cities are drenched in the blood of innocent victims,” former President Donald Trump said on Oct. 8.

President Joe Biden on Sept. 1 made his own comments about his predecessor.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA republicans represent an extremism,” Biden said.

The strong and often negative language seems to be ramping up.

On Friday, President Biden put a twist on a phrase he’s used to describe some Republicans.

“They’re going to raise your health insurance premiums,” Biden said. “It’s mega-MAGA trickle-down— the kind of policies that have failed the country before and will fail it again.”

The rhetoric has made its way into campaign ads and speeches directly from candidates or their high-profile representatives.

Emory University Marketing Professor David Schweidel has researched the effectiveness of negative political advertising and says the trend of negative ads and language goes back at least a decade.

The negativity, he said, just works, and it reflects a divided country.

“If I scare you, if I come out and say, ‘if you don’t do this, this is where we’re heading, it’s going to be a really bad place’ — If I can trigger that fear in you, that’s more likely to get you to act,” Schweidel said.

Elections 2022

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

66°F Sunny Feels like 66°
Wind
4 mph SSW
Humidity
33%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
52°F Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
5 mph SW
Precip
15%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous