When negative ads tell the truth, are they still negative?

I get the impression that the conventional definition of a "negative ad" is simply an ad in which candidate A warns voters not to vote for candidate B because B did some very bad things. This definition seems not to consider whether these claims were true or false.

If your definition of "negative advertising" is an ad in which falsehoods are stated about the other candidates, then I'm against negative ads. But when I hear opponents of negative ads make their case, they simply argue against the practice of "attacking such and such candidate", as if the simple act of attacking this candidate is wrong, regardless of the evidence.

Would it be right or wrong for our candidate to remind voters that say, Mike Huckabee helped release a serial rapist from jail?
Would it be wrong for our candidate to remind voters that Mitt Romney is a flip-flopper?

Those are examples of "negative ads", in which candidate A does not argue in favor of his attributes, but chooses to remind voters about the shortcomings of electing his/her rival.

Negative ads are very useful, if you ask me, and they become positive if they are truthful, because we are given reasons why we shouldn't cast a vote for a person who will screw the nation.

Mind you, at least it'd be a change...

and that cuts both ways political party-wise

Msongs

Have you noticed flip-flopping candidates usually flip-flop when the change is favored among the constituency they are trying to attract?
And for some reason the "new evidence" coming to Romney never goes lefts. It always moves right.

After all, Willie Horton was paroled from jail and then he raped and murdered a woman. So, it was true.

Of course, we might ask, how much did Dukakis have to do with Willie Horton's release? Why did they show a picture of Willie Horton?

Whether or not an ad is true or false depends largely on your perspective. Romney claims he's not a flip-flopper. I think an ad that points out Romney's different positions on various issues is less negative than one that calls him a flip-flopper.

They have to be truthful. If negative ads simply state the facts, citing sources (or, better yet, running film proving it), it can be quite powerful.