With 16 weeks unti the general election, there has been a noticeable increase in negative advertising by both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. According to Kantar Media, 89% of Obama’s ad buys featured an anti-Romney message, while 94% of Romney’s ads were attacking President Obama.

And these ads are just as negative as they are costly:

Source: The Washington Post

Do you think this is the "ugliest" election in history? If so, why is this election so much worse than previous ones?