Dirty details and rolling rumors have been proven to affect the opinions of SMU students as they decide the fate of upcoming political leaders.

According to a campus poll taken on Feb. 24, 60 percent of students believed that negative advertisements are effective tools in elections. 

“If you can build up a negative view of your opponent you can get a rumor going and at least get some sort of stimulation towards a discrepancy against an opponent,” junior economics major Clayton Hanks said.

Some students think these ads persuade voters because the public does not actively seek out other information about the candidates. 

SMU student Josh Hicks agrees, adding: “With enough repetition, it could possibly help to sway people one way or the other.”

According to Public Policy Polling, Rick Perry is the front-runner in the Texas gubernatorial primaries for the Republican Party. Opponent Kay Bailey Hutchison told the Associated

Press that she believes Perry’s negative tactics have hindered her campaign. 

Freshman journalism major Andy Garcia disagrees.

“I get really upset when I see other candidates directly attacking each other,” Garcia said. “I think it’s more important that candidates talk about their positive points and what they are going to do when they are in office.” 

Sophomore Adrian Aceves says that the overuse of negative ads from both sides levels the playing field.  Other students believe that the negative campaigns affect people differenty. Sophomore Chance Dyson believes negative ads work for some demographics and not others. 

With negative ads on the rise, voters can find information about each candidate in any election by looking at their individual Web-sites.

Samantha Verrill and Bridget Bennett also contributed to this story.