For nearly two centuries this was held up as an early example of dirty campaigning.
Among the most salacious stories were those penned by the partisan journalist James Callender, who alleged in a series of articles that Thomas Jefferson had fathered several children with his young slave, Sally Hemings. In the early 1800’s politics was no less suffused with innuendo than today. Sex has long been a favorite topic of the dirty trick.
For instance, let’s take one of the most infamous ads from the 1988 presidential campaign pitting Vice President George H.W. The latter may be offensive but they are based on something that is true as opposed to something that is a wholesale fabrication. To do that, we should distinguish between dirty tricks and negative campaigning, including attack ads and contrast ads. Thus it is fitting to begin working on the problem of defending democracy in the internet age by trying to understand the world of dirty tricks in the pre-internet age. While the medium may be different, the goals are as old as elections themselves. In America today, outrageous lies, doctored videos, and impostors try to influence elections alongside legitimate news and direct campaign communications from would-be leaders.