Attack Websites in #MBELXN

If you were trying to win an election would you:

a.) spend a lot of dollars telling people about yourself, your plan and what you are going to do

b.) spend a lot of dollars telling people about what the other team might potentially do

There seems to be an abundance of negative ads or attack websites popping up in Manitoba politics. There are 3 examples we know of that attack the leaders of the provincial parties and we believe it says a lot about the people who commissioned those websites more than the people that they target.

1. brokentrust.ca – this website was commissioned by the PC Party of Manitoba and is focused on Greg Selinger and the NDP and their “broken government”. They are trying to emphasize the many broken promises and is complete with a countdown to the next election.
2. pallisterpcs.ca – this website is the oldest of the 3, and comes from the governing NDP Party targeting Brian Palister and the PCs. They have been also sending out mail leaflets to Manitobans since mid 2015 at least promoting this site.
3. notcredible.ca – the newest of the 3 websites, this one targets Liberal Leader as inconsistent and emphasizing the lack of details in her election announcements. This one is also commissioned by the PC Party of Manitoba.

Remember when in the last federal election the Conservatives tried to paint Justin Trudeau as “Just Not Ready”? That didn’t end well for that party, and  the Liberal majority we have federally speaks volumes about how Canadians felt about that message.

What will the effects of these negative ads be provincially? Will there be any? Is negative advertising more or less successful than promoting yourself positively?