Propaganda is one of the most widely used and effective political tactics. It gives its user the ability to influence people to act in both positive and negative ways, by praising or shaming a selected person or idea. Propaganda is used to "sell" a candidate or belief to the public, whether by ruining the opponent's chances of victory or falsely advertising an idea of ​​one's own as better than one's opponent's. Negative propaganda can be used to defame the opposition and create uncertainty around their vote. This type of advertising is timeless and has been used since the creation of the very first government. Negative propaganda is one of the most effective political tactics because it distorts the public's ideas using scandal, lies, or fear. Much propaganda is aimed at belittling opponents, making them seem untrustworthy or foolish. Name-calling is a tactic that gets the message across quickly and can have a detrimental effect on the receiving side. We can see politicians of all races and genders being called “stupid,” “incompetent,” and other more colorful names. Edwin Diamond and Stephen Bates wrote: “Insults and invectives are in themselves nothing new in American political life. Washington was called the “master of whores” and a future monarch; Jefferson, coward and atheist; Lincoln, a “rail-splitting baboon”. Franklin O. Roosevelt, Jr., as John Kennedy's surrogate in the 1960 West Virginia primary, declared Hubert Humphrey a draft dodger. (Diamond 327). This shows not only a wide variety of slander, but also that name-calling has always been a part of politics, even in the very first presidential election in the United States. In the 2010 presidential election, Sarah Palin, who was a candidate in the middle of the newspaper, won the trust of a large number of people. Works Cited “Adolf Hitler”. Jewish Virtual Library - Home Page. Internet. November 28, 2011. "Beijing Made Easy | History of Beijing | The Little Red Book." Beijing Simplified | The online visitor's guide to Beijing, China. Internet. November 29, 2011. Diamond, Edwin and Stephen Bates. The Spot: The rise of political advertising on television. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1984. Gifford, Clive. Media and communications. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1999. Print. “Leftists become experts in insults | Sun Journal. » Central and Western Maine News | Journal du Soleil. Internet. November 28, 2011. .7886Loomis, Roger Sherman and Donald Lemen Clark. Readings in Modern English. Biography, short stories, poems, essays, plays. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1942. Print.