This election year is going to be big. The Citizens United decision, which essentially opened the flodgates to special interest funding of political candidates and campaigns, was given a trial run in 2010 and is now calibrated and greased for 2012. Obama has already raised a staggering amount of money, and Mitt Romney's conservative fundraising machine is not hanging back. A recent study highlighted in The Washington Post, showed that nearly 50% of GOP campaign advertising has been negative this year. Compare that to just four years ago, when only 6% of GOP ads were designed to attack other candidates. Of course, the polarization of the parties is only likely to intensify as we crawl closer to November. For these reasons, it's more important than ever to guard oneself again partisan politicking and special-interest spin.
