The date is January 2nd, 1960. Senator John F. Kennedy kicks off his campaign. He announces, "I am announcing today my candidacy for the presidency of the United States."
It was a mere 10 months before the presidential election.
What was thought to be a long campaign for candidates in 1960 is nothing compared to this year's elections.
"We have got a long way to go," said presidential candidate John McCain recently.
U.S. presidential candidates started announcing in December of 2006. The nearly two-year campaign tires some voters. One voter told us, "I just think there are so many people involved, it is so complicated." Another voter said, "It just seems to be getting longer and longer every year. I think it's exhausting for the American public."
And that can lead to low voter turnout, says Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation. "By the end, by election day, they [voters] just don't really care who wins the presidency."
A lengthy campaign also requires massive amounts of cash. Historian Allan Lichtman adds, "You now have to spend literally over $100 million to be a credible presidential candidate, just in the primaries."
The longer the campaign, the more negativity among front-runners.
2 comments:
I agree with Bart and the article. I absolutely hate campaigning and how long it takes. Don't tell me what the other candidate said in some out of context smear commercial, tell me what you are going to do as the President of the United States AND how you're going to do it! So much money is wasted on these commercials that network executives think that it is taking the edge off the recent drop in advertisements, but I guess they have to appeal to the lowest common denominator...who votes.
Also, people thin-slice when they view the negative commercials. In those few seconds, they make a decision on whether or not they choose to believe what is being said about the opposing candidate.
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