政客们经常试图通过贬低对手来赢得选举。

Politicians often try to win elections by vilifying their opponents.

vilifying 是动词 vilify 的现在分词形式。vilify 来自拉丁语词根 vilis（卑鄙的）和后缀 -fy（使...化），意思是"诽谤、诋毁、贬低"。在政治语境中常指通过恶意攻击对手形象来获取优势。