gun to be perceived by both media managers and the general public as a demobilizing rather than mobilizing event.
The goal of any media strategy in a political campaign is twofold. First, the strategy seeks to frame both advertising and press coverage as well as commentary in a light favorable to the candidate and in a way that is likely to further voter recognition of the image the candidate seeks to project. Secondly, the goal of the media strategy is to mobilize voters to exercise the franchise and to convince others that the candidate is the best choice for office.
Negative campaign advertising or attack ads have been used unsuccessfully by any number of candidates. A body of research described by Ansolabehere, et al (1994) claims that negative advertising can and often does depress intent to vote, convince marginal voters that voting is not a productive activity and ultimately reduce voter turnout. By framing the general media strategy in terms of positive advertising a
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