Some political attack ads substitute fear for facts. Others offer misleading information knowing that when we are distracted by fear-eliciting images we are less likely to challenge it. The famous 1964 “Daisy” ad run by incumbent Democrat Lyndon Johnson’s campaign against Republican challenger Barry Goldwater evoked audience fears of nuclear devastation to elicit concerns about Goldwater without providing the evidence required to warrant those fears. At other times, attack ads elicit fear with evocative pictures and narrative in ways that make it less likely that we will analytically challenge the offered information. The 1988 “Willie Horton” ad by the pro-Bush National Security Action Committee did this when it included the inaccurate statements that Horton had stabbed a young man 17 times and was a first-degree murderer not eligible for parole at the time that he jumped furlough and assaulted a man and raped a woman. As a general rule, when a political ad is scary, be wary.