The November election is on the horizon, and the race is starting to get dirty.

Last week, George Bush supporters aired a commercial questioning John Kerry’s Vietnam War record. Is this tactic a bad idea or is it just business as usual for politicians?

The political powers have chosen Kerry’s past as a battleground to decide who will be our Commander in Chief. This is only a good tactic because we are at war. If we had this argument between Bush and Gore nobody would have cared at all. What we must realize is that our government is ever changing and so are the tactics used to control the White House.

Maybe the reason these ads are coming up on TV is because the Democrats asked for them. During the Democratic National Convention, Kerry paraded his war buddies up on stage. Then he had them praise him saying what a great war hero he was. By doing this, Kerry made his Vietnam War record a key point in the Presidential race.

This tactic isn’t one-sided. If Bush parades up a line of oil executives during the Republican National Convention, Democrats won’t think twice about making commercials contradicting whatever these men say.

Former President Bill Clinton was on “The Daily Show” two weeks ago complaining about the anti-Kerry commercials. Imagine, Bill Clinton complaining about liars. I think we should only listen to those who stayed around to serve their country.

What this all boils down to are two questions. Will the Republicans or Democrats lose and how will all of this negative campaigning affect the election?

I find it really sad that it would matter either way. Kerry’s war record is irrelevant.What I want to see in commercials that are meant to get my vote are actual ideas for the country. All I ever here from the Democrats anymore is “Elect Kerry…. He is not Bush!!” You see it on the bumpers of cars too “Anyone but Bush!” Why don’t we elect a convict, or a monkey?

They certainly aren’t George W. Bush.