claiming Obama favored comprehensive sex education for kindergarteners . Democrats have not been above reproach either . After McCain secured the GOP nomination this spring , outside groups falsely claimed the Republican supported a 1,000-year war in Iraq and therefore was not worthy of the presidency . These misleading appeals suggest voters must remain vigilant about candidate , party , and group claims . Generally , the most misleading commercials have come from independent groups uncoordinated with the candidates . These organizations feel free to run emotional and inaccurate content designed to play on voter 's fears and anxieties . Some of the worst ads in recent memory , such as the Willie Horton ad in 1988 , have been broadcast by these kinds of groups . In past years , the only upside of attack ads was that they generally contained more issue content than other types of ads . Since reporters police campaign appeals , the ads generally stick to the issues and rely on factually-accurate information . Ad sponsors and candidates realize they will be held accountable for unfair ad content . However , commercials run this year represent a break with this general pattern . Attack
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Negative attacks are as American as apple pie . Since the early days of the republic , candidates attacked with a vigor that contemporary strategists would admire . In the 1800 presidential election , for example , Thomas Jefferson and John Adams criticized one another with a stunning ferocity on everything from foreign and domestic policy to private character and personal behavior . Later campaigns were n't much better . Critics of Andrew Jackson in 1836 accused him of murdering Indians . In 1884 , Grover Cleveland was ridiculed for fathering an illegitimate child . William Jennings Bryan was characterized as a dangerous radical in 1896 who would ruin the economy . Despite these historical precedents , the 2008 campaign has reached all-time lows in the use of misleading and inaccurate political appeals . Even Karl Rove , the architect of negative ads in previous campaigns , has complained about the tenor of this year 's campaign . John McCain broadcast an ad taking Barack Obama 's words out of context and suggesting Democrats were trying to compare GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to a pig . The McCain campaign ran another spot erroneously