The Meanest Campaign Ads Yet…From John Adams And Thomas Jefferson

Every time an election year rolls around, our TVs are filled with mean and aggressive campaign ads. And every time that happens, every news show in America dusts off the script for their biennial report on how “OMGZ! The campaign ads are mean this year, much meaner than ever before ever ever!!!!” Reason has created a pretty clever response to this endless cycle with some parody campaign ads that use actual quotes from Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to show that, no, campaigns aren’t getting meaner. They’ve pretty much always sucked.

The video, which starts with Anderson Cooper giving a typically hyperbolic version of the aforementioned news meme, is hilarious. These aren’t the funniest campaign ad spoofs (ahem) but, by the time Thomas Jefferson is getting the “Demon Sheep”-red eye treatment, the point has been more than made. Now if only someone can find that infamous pamphlet alleging Aaron Burr dressed in a sexy Halloween costume and had a drunken one night stand, we could really bring it all full circle.

Check out the video from Reason below.

(h/t Gawker)

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