In honor of a timeless American tradition -- negative campaigning -- JAIME HOLGUIN produces an original song featuring highlights from this year's attack ads.
With just days to go until Election Day, the back-and-forth of political mudslinging is in full effect, as it always seems to be during this part of an even-numbered year. And nowhere is the phenomenon more prominent than in the plethora of negative campaign ads targeting every point along the political spectrum.
It seems that every campaign season brings more and more of them. And as their numbers increase, so too does the variety of outrageous claims and personal attacks.
The accusations are sometimes baseless. Often they're exaggerated. And in some cases, of course, the claims are perfectly legitimate and true. No matter which is the case, the goal is the same: to discredit and trash political opponents.
While the effectiveness of negative campaigning is up for debate, one thing's for sure: The ads, for better or worse, have become a permanent part of our political culture.
In honor of this realization, asap sifted through heaps of this season's best (worst?) negative campaign ads and turned them into a 3-minute original audio montage -- an asap attack ad remix, if you will. Listen to the song in the player above, or download it as an mp3.
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HOW WE DID IT
Here's how the remix came together:
We began by trawling the Internet in search of ads, and (not surprisingly) quickly amassed a healthy collection of spots directed at both sides of the aisle.
Next, we created some loops using audio software and laid down the blueprint for the song. We then piled on more samples, synthesizers and effects. After that, we started picking through the ads, isolating our favorite parts and looping certain phrases to create a sense of rhythm.
From there it was just a matter of matching up the different tempos and musical keys of the ads with those of the song. Finally, an exuberant asap reporter sang the "political ads ... attack" refrain, for a dash of melody.
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For more asap election coverage, click here
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Mixmaster Jaime Holguin is an asap reporter based in New York.
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