I watched a local election where candidates spent more time attacking each other's character than debating housing or transit policy, and it felt like a reality show. Negative ads do work — they suppress turnout and shift swing voters, but at what cost to informed decision-making? Civic engagement requires some faith that policy matters, yet when campaigns pivot to scandal, we're left with a choice between the lesser of two evils. Should we blame the strategists who engineer this, or the voters who respond to it?