EAST BAY TIMES -- San Francisco State University Professor Joe Tuman said the negative campaigning was not good for O’Malley’s campaign and if anything, hurt her. As an incumbent, she had an advantage of winning anyway, he said.
“It’s unnecessary. All it it did was create a sympathy for the challenger, which doesn’t help Nancy,” Tuman said.
Because the ads came from a third party, they were able to “hit below the belt,” allowing the candidate herself to not get flacked for it, he said.
But the negative campaigning turns the focus from the candidates’ qualifications, to a sporting event.
“The sad thing is, this kind of negative messaging is normalized now. It rarely raises eyebrows. … It’s part of the reason why we don’t get larger voter turnout. It’s not hopeful, it’s just a blood sport; it’s mean. But the fact is, it works,” Tuman said.