How many of you out there are extremely relieved that election season is over? If you live in the United States, you’ve been bombarded with election advertisements for the last couple of months. This has risen to a fever pitch in the few days preceding this election day. Today it’s finally over for this year. Thank goodness.

I’ve had enough of the political ads entirely. There is a certain pattern to the advertising and marketing of candidates that is interesting, though. No matter how virulent the attack or how negative the ads are, the smiling face or pleasant voice of a candidate comes on to tell us how they approve this message. “My opponent is a crackwhore and sells poisoned milk to school children. I’m John Q. Public and I approve this message [big, toothy smile and/or smooth, confident voice].”

It’s possible that I’m paying more attention to advertising this season due to my interest in internet marketing. It’s also possible that because I watch very little television, I haven’t had a chance to become inured to the negativity.

I know that negative campaigns aren’t a new thing; they’ve been around for as long as politics has been around. If you doubt this, do some googling and take a look at some of the political cartoons from the 1800′s. If you haven’t seen them before, you may be shocked by the vicious and personal nature of the attacks.

With all of that said, I think we can take a lesson from this for use in our writing and blogging. That’s a lesson about credibility. Everything we do or say affects how others view us. If you’re one who viciously attacks those you disagree with, or if you are caught in lies one time after another, it negatively affects your credibility. Do you want people to look at you the way they look at politicians?

So, don’t be one of those who uses negativity to get the point across. Try to offer solutions and really listen to the other side. You can definitely be yourself in your writing and blogging and still be balanced. You don’t have to compromise your integrity when you critically examine your own beliefs, either. Just be willing to change your viewpoint based on new information. That’s reasonable. Remember that just because you believe something doesn’t make it true. Likewise, repeating any message over and over again doesn’t add to it’s veracity.