This is a Terrible Day … Or Is It?

You’re sitting at home watching television with your family and your show goes to a commercial break. It’s local election season, and commercial breaks have been littered with political ads and campaigns. You’ve been seeing them for weeks, but they won’t be on for much longer. Election day is only a day away.

You watch as a negative advertisement begins to play about Candidate A. “That’s no good,” you think. The next commercial starts to play, and it’s also a negative smearing campaign ad for Candidate C. “That’s no good either,” you muse.

The next day while voting you stare down at your ballot considering your options. You recall the negative statements made about Candidates A and C. You think, “Maybe I’ll go with Candidate B. Candidates A and C seemed like terrible candidates in those ads.”

But wait. You’ve been watching campaign ads for weeks. Surely you’ve seen plenty of positive reports for Candidates A and C as well. So why didn’t those good things come to mind when you were deciding who to vote for?