Every political season campaigns start as positive messages about each candidate.  Sadly, this quickly changes.  Once campaigning is really is underway, the public is flooded with negativity.  Almost every ad is more fuel in the volley of negative fire each candidate hurls at his or her opponent.
 
Why do candidates do this?  So people won’t pay attention to what someone actually stands for and simply vote (if they actually do) for the lesser of two evils.

Earlier this week, “The Today Show’s” Matt Lauer hosted a women’s conference in Long Beach, Calif. and moderated a debate between gubernatorial candidates.  He asked the candidates to pledge to cease running negative ads for the last week before elections. 

 Not an especially difficult request – one of the candidates agreed to do so if his opponent would.  His opponent skirted the issue.  Not even a “I’ll think about it.”  Lauer gave them 24 hours to make a decision. 

 Can you imagine what an election season would be without attack ads?  Candidates would have to state their position and be ready to defend it before we vote.  No more focusing on how awful they want us to believe their opponent is.

 Of course, politicians are not going to voluntarily stop running attack ads.  This means we have to pay attention and find out what is really going on with each candidate, and then get more involved by voting. 

 Isn’t that what becoming an adult is all about – making decisions for yourself, right? So explain to me why most college students aren’t more involved in politics.  Politicians are the people who vote for us as citizens and make decisions that affect our everyday lives. 

This means we as college students need to be more informed about the candidates running for office and where they stand on issues.  This is one of the ways we can affect our government – don’t you want a voice?  Then vote!

This editorial was written by Jessica Green (jegreen@valdosta.edu) and it expresses the opinion of the entire editorial staff.