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# Most Negative Election In History?
- URL: https://ivn.us/most-negative-election-in-history/
- Published: 2012-07-19T16:38:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:27:55.000Z
- Author: Jane Susskind
- Tags: News

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](http://www.kantarmedia.com/?ref=ivn.us), 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:

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dc/be/dcbe1ac4-146f-43be-92a6-ea84728d86a6/content/images/2026/02/Weekly-Political-Ad-Spending.jpg "Weekly Political Ad Spending")](https://ivn.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Weekly-Political-Ad-Spending.png)

Source: [The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/track-presidential-campaign-ads-2012/?ref=ivn.us)

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