Negative electioneering THE EDITOR, Sir: I WAS appalled at the headlines in The Gleaner, dated Monday, August 27, which quoted the Hon. Minister of National Security as saying "No ease up on Seaga." He then continued that things which have been said about Mr. Seaga must become issues in the next General Election. Sir, in my opinion, all this is a precursor to what we can expect. It seems that the name of the game will be "Tar and burn; Disfigure and conquer." I recall while living in Canada, just before the Federal Elections in 1985, when the Prime Minister and Leader of the ruling Conservative Party was about to bow out of politics, he passed the mantle of leadership to a heiress-apparent. Feeling fully confident with a majority in the house, she fell for the advice of her strategist, who began to play upon and exaggerate the effects of a stroke the Leader of the Liberal Opposition suffered in college. This enraged the Canadian public who demanded that all negative ads be withdrawn. Sir, that distasteful strategy caused the conservatives to be swept from power, including the heiress-apparent. The party wound up with a mere three MPs in the house. I am, etc., BASIL THOMPSON P.O. Box 515 Kingston 8
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