Every four years there is a job opening. It is called the President of the United States. It is uniquely different than other positions, particularly when it comes to the application for and the securing of this position.

Simply stated, usually two individuals end up applying as finalists for this position. What they do is submit their resume to the public. The public then reviews both resumes. Then on one day, the public picks one of the two applicants as the winner. Uniquely different from other jobs one might apply for, every four years you need to again apply as if you never held the position in the first place.

There are some other differences in the application process. For example, the two parties in some states allow non-party members to choose their candidate for this position. This is called an open primary of which South Carolina is one of those states.

In the private sector, this would be akin to having your competitors and their employees and managers choose your chief operating officer or president. It is not probable that they would vote or choose the most qualified candidate for the position.

The other unique part of this application process is your opponent, your opponent’s supporters, the public media and others, who you do not know and have never met, have the opportunity to distort and attack your work history and your resume. This is done with disregard of facts or truth and it is called: negative campaigning. This is not a new phenomenon in the application process for those wanting to be President. A little history is instructive.

The fact is negative campaigning has been routine practice since the beginning of our Country. Why? Because it appears to work. The race between Vice President John Adams and former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson was an absolute mud fest. Each accused the other of almost treasonous activities and destroyed their previous relationship for almost fifty years.

Things got worse. John Q. Adams attacked not only Andrew Jackson, but Jackson’s wife and his mother. Grover Cleveland had a child out of wedlock. Wherever he appeared, his Republican opponents chanted from the audience: “Ma Ma, where is my Pa?” … “Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”

In modern times including the primary election in our state on January 21st, negative campaigning has continued. The fact is, it really only works when the charges being made are factually correct. When they are not, the negative rhetoric rebounds back to the person making the charge rather than sticking with the person charged.

This Saturday, when registered voters who are either Republicans, Democrats or Independents decide to vote in the Republican Presidential Preference Primary, please remember to carefully filter the negative charges being made and test them for their veracity. As someone once said: “The truth shall set you free.”

Lynn Mueller is a veteran Republican campaign consultant who has joined Swatzel Strategies. His bi-monthly column in the Georgetown Times focuses on economics and politics.