With the announcement of four candidates for the 2016 presidential election, campaign season has officially begun. The elections take place in November 2016, so now we can expect to see hundreds of television advertisements, billboards and bumper stickers.
This early on in the campaign process most presidential candidates, and their committees, are just trying to get their campaigns off the ground, but not surprisingly some have already started attacking each other.
Republican senator Rand Paul released the first ad attacking another official presidential candidate in the 2016 election. The melodramatic ad features dark video clips, ominous music and a direct shot at Hillary Clinton saying, “Hillary Clinton represents the worst of the Washington machine, the arrogance of power, corruption and cover-up.” It isn’t until almost halfway through the 60-second ad that a narrator commends Paul and his running platform while an uplifting song plays in the background.
Paul’s website also has photos available for download that are specifically designed to support his campaign on social media. There is a section of profile photos, Twitter cover photos and Facebook cover photos with the slogan #LibertyNotHillary plastered in red, white and blue.
The Republican National Committee created a campaign against Clinton before she had even officially announced that she would run for president in 2016. To kick off the #StopHillary campaign, the group created a 30-second ad, which features different sound bytes from news reporters that aim to call out Clinton on parts of her running platform. The TV ad is just one facet of the #StopHillary campaign; recently members of the RNC were seen handing out “Stop Hillary” beer koozies at a Washington Nationals baseball game in D.C.
Although the official candidates have yet to attack a republican, the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America released an ad relating Paul to President Barack Obama and calling him “dangerous.” It is costing the 501(c)(4) conservative organization $1 million to air this 30-second ad for just a week. The ad will run during prime time on Fox News across the nation and on broadcast TV, statewide cable TV and online in four states. Organizations, such as the FSPA, often get called “secret money groups” because they do not have to disclose their donors to the public.
The 2016 election could be the most expensive one in American history, with billions of dollars being spent on campaigns. During Clinton’s first event of her 2016 presidential campaign, she called the nation’s campaign finance system “dysfunctional” and said she would support a constitutional amendment to get unaccountable money out of it. Clinton’s campaign is expected to be heavily funded by Priorities USA Action, the political action committee that helped Obama win his election in 2012. Political action committees differ from 501(c)(4) because they must disclose their donors.
We have not yet seen an attack ad from Clinton, but that may be because she is the only democratic candidate to have officially announced her spot in the 2016 election. As other democrats begin their campaigns will they take aim at each other or focus on putting down their republicans counterparts?
Put downs and attacks from candidates are inevitable during the long months of campaigning, but the people must remember what they are voting for. In order to really be educated, voters have to do their own research and form their own opinions.
We cannot let ourselves get sucked into the drama of advertisements or let some overly opinionated television show host get us riled up. We have to keep a level head or this upcoming year is going to be long and strenuous  As students on campus begin getting into the election, we can expect to see some slanderous stickers and slogans. Instead of taking these as personal attacks, have a quick conversation with these people and try to get a real sense of why they chose to support their candidate.
Follow Tanner Owens on Twitter @T_Owens21