A recent Hillary Clinton ad drew on images of Pearl Harbor, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and Osama Bin Laden (among others) to (effectively) illicit fear among Pennsylvania voters:

Is it fear mongering? Yes. But also, it is official word that Hillary’s place is in the kitchen. Where she belongs.

More seriously, even Bill is staunchly against any fear tactics, saying on October 25, 2004:

One of Clinton’s laws of politics is, if one candidate is trying to scare you, and the other one is trying to make you think, if one candidate’s appealing to your fears, and the other one’s appealing to your hopes. You better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.

Of course, the hopeful candidate could just be “Happy Man Lemming leading you to the cliff, but you will be smiling along the way.”

The Living Room Candidate

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 is an innovative online exhibition presenting more than 250 television commercials from every election year beginning in 1952, when the first campaign ads aired, and including ads from this year’s campaign. Users can watch nearly four hours of TV commercials and explore the expanding world of Web-based political advertising. The site includes a searchable database and features commentary, historical background, election results, and navigation organized by both year and theme.