Have Political Campaigns Become Nothing More Than Character Assassinations?

I debated about writing this post because of the political nature, but one story in particular got me so riled up, I thought I would ask you what you think. The story involves Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell and his recent assertions that private conversations between him and his campaign about potential challenger Ashley Judd were illegally taped. The problem is not with Mitch McConnell, it's the process any of these politicians use against their opposition. If you recall, actress Ashley Judd was considering challenging Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell for his senate seat, but has since changed her mind. It is common practice for candidates to do what is called 'opposition research' to figure out campaign strategy, which was done on Ashley Judd before she announced she would not seek the office.

A tape has recently surfaced where McConnell's campaign people, and maybe even McConnell himself, can be heard discussing Judd's background focusing mainly on her mental health history and her religion. The McConnell camp has asked the FBI to investigate how these discussions were taped in the first place and who released them.

Here's my problem. McConnell, nor his camp deny the conversation took place, claiming their office was bugged, but it's the content of the conversation I have a big problem with. If they were focusing on her mental health history and religion, then it stands to reason they were getting ready to completely destroy her character without regard to her stance on any of the issues, which seems to be the norm in politics anymore and it has to stop.

Whatever happened to campaigning on issues and how you differ from your opponent? Why is the voting public exposed to these outrageous smear campaigns in their ads that completely demonize the other guy having nothing at all to do with the issues or even the facts? These attacks are vicious, mean spirited, disgusting and a complete misrepresentation of the person being smeared, not to mention the actual truth!

At this point, I would like to add that I am not targeting Mitch McConnell, he is just the best example of this right now because his situation has become so public. Whoever taped his private conversations and released them are obviously targeting him in the same negative way. If in fact, these recordings were made without McConnell's consent and or knowledge, that is ILLEGAL and the people responsible should be prosecuted.

The ads for any campaign anymore center solely around the ability to make your opponent look like the biggest scumbag that has ever walked the earth. We saw that in the recent presidential campaign and we certainly saw it in our local races here in the Tri-State.

We are seeing it right now in Washington between the Republicans and Democrats. Neither side will budge on their party's view and they spend all their time blaming the other side instead of really trying to do something significant for the American people. While THEY are posturing, WE are struggling to make ends meet and feed our families and its plain to see that the people who are supposed to care about us, our leaders, don't!

We apparently live in a world where political victories come to those who are the best character assassins and that is not only sad, but extremely troubling and dangerous. I challenge any politician to tell me what they think the real issues are, instead of telling me who is to blame for it.....I would bet they can't. What do you think?

[NBC News]