Experience 101
The Politics of Fear

On October 25, 2004, President Clinton spoke out against the politics of fear. What he said then remains true today:

"One of Clinton's laws of politics is, if one candidate is trying to scare you, and the other one is trying to make you think, if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes. You better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."

The Politics of Fear and Loathing is certainly nothing new. In modern politics, we can trace it back to the 1964 Lyndon Johnson - Barry Goldwater campaign, when Johnson's team aired what became legend as "The Daisy Ad." It painted Republican Barry Goldwater as an extremist who would bring a nuclear attack down upon the nation, killing our children. It was a powerful commercial, but was so controversial and distasteful that it was aired only once before being pulled.