Critical Reasoning

Traditionally, candidates for elected offices have concentrated their efforts on the early stages of the campaign during which, most people believed, the voters' perceptions of candidates were formed. It is now becoming clear, however, that elections can be decided in the few days preceding election day; public opinion polls taken during recent elections provide evidence of several such races. In those cases, the losing candidates would have been well advised to have forgone early spending and instead saved funds for television advertisements late in their campaign.

The conclusion above assumes that which of the following is true?

(A) No candidate for elected office can mount a successful campaign without allocating a large portion of campaign funds to television advertising.
(B) The losing candidates described would have won their respective campaigns had they not spent as heavily in the early stages of those campaigns.
(C) The winning candidates described accrued more funds throughout their campaigns than did the losing candidates.
(D) Candidates who spend a large amount of their campaign funds on television advertising are more successful than those who spend the same amount on print advertising.
(E) The losing candidates described would not have eliminated their chances of winning by spending less in the early stages of their campaigns.

What's the best approach to determine the answer?

ardz24 wrote:Traditionally, candidates for elected offices have concentrated their efforts on the early stages of the campaign during which, most people believed, the voters' perceptions of candidates were formed. It is now becoming clear, however, that elections can be decided in the few days preceding election day; public opinion polls taken during recent elections provide evidence of several such races. In those cases, the losing candidates would have been well advised to have forgone early spending and instead saved funds for television advertisements late in their campaign.

The conclusion above assumes that which of the following is true?

(A) No candidate for elected office can mount a successful campaign without allocating a large portion of campaign funds to television advertising.
(B) The losing candidates described would have won their respective campaigns had they not spent as heavily in the early stages of those campaigns.
(C) The winning candidates described accrued more funds throughout their campaigns than did the losing candidates.
(D) Candidates who spend a large amount of their campaign funds on television advertising are more successful than those who spend the same amount on print advertising.
(E) The losing candidates described would not have eliminated their chances of winning by spending less in the early stages of their campaigns.

What's the best approach to determine the answer?

The conclusion: candidates should forgo early spending and save the money for TV ads late in the campaign
Premise: Polls revealed that races can be decided in the days before the election

Try negation. The correct answer, when negated, will undermine the argument.

E negated: The losing candidates described would have been eliminated their chances of winning by spending less in the early stages of their campaigns.

Well, if the candidate in question would be eliminated from contention if she neglected to spend early in the race, then it no longer makes sense for her to forgo early spending in favor of late spending. She'd need to spend early to have any chance at all. Because E, when negated, undermines the argument, we know it's the correct answer.