Are Negative Political Ads Effective?

by SodaHead News Posted 2012/05/04 13:00:00

Related Topics: negative campaign ads, 2012, Campaign, Negative, Romney, Obama, Infographic, Election, Anonymous, Media, Presidential, 2008, Politics, Survey

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	Yes	502 votes	57%
	No	384 votes	43%

Presidential campaigns are brutal enough without all the smearing, but alas, negative ads are an integral part of politics. But is it all that effective? It must be doing something, because according to the Wesleyan Media Project, negativity in campaign ads has skyrocketed this season. A new study shows nearly 70% of political ads this year have been negative, compared to 9.1% during the 2008 election -- an increase of more than 750%.

At the same time, the survey reveals funding from political action committees (PACs and SuperPACs) has gone up even more -- 1,100% over the last election season. SuperPACs, made infamous by comedian Stephen Colbert during his pseudo-candidacy last year, allow unlimited funding from anonymous contributors. That might explain the vast increase in negativity. On the other hand, it indicates that negative campaigning might not be as practical as it seems. What do you think? Do negative campaign ads do the job?

+32

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Tasine 2012/05/04 14:34:00

No

+14
Depends on who they are directed to. Negative ads work exclusively for the left - their constituents religiously believe anything their party tells them even when it is a glaring lie. Most Republican voters don't need any ads to advise them how to vote. I will not watch anybody's ad. I see them as insults to my intelligence.
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kelly 2012/05/06 15:53:57

Yes

+2
Sadly enough yes. In my ideal world we wouldn't have all these political ads, or political parties or bias news or any of it. In my ideal world we would forget about all the extra meaningless crap and vote based on who we believe would do the best job leading our country.

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Linkums 2012/05/06 15:19:45

Yes

+1
The majority of you are idiots.

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Jane 2012/05/06 14:54:40

Yes

And most if not all tell some sort of LIE. This should be illegal, not marijuana. It injects hatred and despair in the minds of our young people.

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Anariashki 2012/05/06 14:46:46

No

+1
It doesn't tell anyone what the candidate behind the ad stands for, and I think anyone could understand that the candidate behind it has every incentive to say the worst things he possibly can about the other candidate. If it works, I'm deeply saddened. The same way I'm saddened by the answers attributing a tactic that virtually all candidates for major offices use to particular ideologies. Grow up.

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RoseyRhod 2012/05/06 13:33:43

Yes

+1
Look for the documentary "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story" for an example of just how effective mudslinging can be. Dirty political campaigns are nothing new.

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Sadisticon 2012/05/06 13:03:20

Yes

+1
Yes - with a tendency to backfire and bite you in the ass.

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Wanderer 2012/05/06 11:08:05

No

+1
Who really takes any notice of ANY advertising these days political or otherwise? It's just inane dribble to most people...

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P. Sturm 2012/05/06 09:42:50

Yes

+2
They must be, or they stop using them quick, at the price of advertising these days.

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Xinea 2012/05/06 08:24:19
TheTruth1313 2012/05/06 06:36:44

Yes

+2
Unfortunately, it seems as if they can be.

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Jo 2012/05/06 06:06:14

No

+1
I dont think there is a media source out there anywhere that holds much credibility; either they're biased toward one party, or their information cannot be counted on to be 100% accurate---with that in mind, I'd have to say no. I remember watching them when I was very young, and thinking even then "well, of course they're going to say that......" Obviously, I feel no differently now.

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joe mauro 2012/05/06 05:51:44

No

+1
its just both sides burning money

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Bob DiN to joe mauro 2012/05/07 22:44:21

You got that right. Obama has a $ billion war chest, but yet the countries broke. Go figure?

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joe mauro to Bob DiN 2012/05/08 01:03:27

almost as much cash as the bank of america

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Bob DiN to joe mauro 2012/05/08 04:22:55

Only because senile old Warren Buffet bailed them out buying millions of their stock. Without that bailout B of A would be bankrupt.

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joe mauro to Bob DiN 2012/05/08 05:18:20

lol

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Bob DiN to joe mauro 2012/05/08 08:10:37

B of A is the worst bank in America today.

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joe mauro to Bob DiN 2012/05/08 19:11:32

agreed

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Bob DiN to joe mauro 2012/05/08 22:57:07

Okay.

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joseph ... to Bob DiN 2012/05/08 14:41:17

No, he doesn't --that is a goal --not a fact. He doesn't have anywhere near that. But I hope he gets it because the republican superpacs have already spent over 300 million dollars on negative campaign ads against him and why shouldn't he have the same amount to fight back with? And another point, what do his campaign funds have to do with the country going broke? It's private money and contributions --it's not public or government money. The country is going broke because republicans refuse to tax the rich who are paying taxes at a rate that is the lowest in American history. Mitt Romney pays 13.9% on an income of 250 million dollars while I pay 29% on my measly salary. You think that's fair? I bet you do--most republicans are so stupid they don't even realize they are voting against their own best interests and the best interests of the country.

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Bob DiN to joseph ... 2012/05/08 16:03:43

I don't think Obama will reach his goal, he's nothing doing well with contributions.

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runningintriangles 2012/05/06 05:05:31
Tully 2012/05/06 04:49:26

Yes

+1
Unfortunately they are. I've overheard conversations by people basing their vote on who has the worst record according to negative TV ads.

I work in local TV. I can say w/o prejudice. I don't care what the ads say. They pay us well and buy an insane amount of time starting in July.

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Juanb to Tully 2012/05/06 06:39:15

Ever seen subliminal stuff? in politics?

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Christo... to Juanb 2012/05/06 16:26:33

+1
If you did, you wouldn't know it.

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Tully to Christo... 2012/05/07 12:32:12

I look through the ads. Been working in this biz a long time. Most things on TV I can't tell you what the shows about, but I can tell you if the color was off by decimals, or the audio wasn't mixed properly for a couple of minutes in the middle of a show.

FCC has certain rules for political broadcast. If a spot doesn't fall within a certain criteria, it gets rejected. Newt's people were the WORST!

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Tully to Juanb 2012/05/07 12:29:48

+1
Yes, all the time. Especially when ads are run frame by frame. You see words superimposed over the opponents faces. The republicans are the worst at it. Especially against each other.

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Darkitec 2012/05/06 04:38:28 (edited)

Yes

+1
How do you think we ended up with Obama? Despite constantly telling everyone he was going to take our money and give it to everyone else, he was going to cost us more money by making energy production more expensive, through eliminating and taxing out of existence the largest and cheapest source of power we have in this nation. Yet all we heard from the media was how Republicans want dirty air and dirty water. or they want to cut funding for this that or some other idiotic program despite the fact that the funding actually goes up.

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Juanb 2012/05/06 04:18:48

Yes

+2
You could tell by the Brainwashed people who believe the Birther Linsanity everytime you read one of their insane posts on sodahead

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'Zedd 2012/05/06 04:05:05
Christopher Kirchen 2012/05/06 03:58:30

No

+2
Not to me; I usually know which candidate I'm going to support from the party, anyway.

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dallas 2012/05/06 03:24:33 (edited)
Darkitec to dallas 2012/05/06 04:45:15

Not a lot of people will realize you are using sarcasm, you should put that at the start of your post.

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dallas to Darkitec 2012/05/06 04:51:50
Darkitec to dallas 2012/05/06 05:49:35

Try this (Sarcasm) it makes it easy for the less educated.

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Jacksane to Darkitec 2012/05/06 05:54:54

+1
Republicans can't tell lies. They're the party of God! (Sarcasm)

You mean like that?

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dallas to Jacksane 2012/05/06 07:23:43
Darkitec to dallas 2012/05/06 13:41:49

Better like this though.
(Sarcasm) Vote for Obama,
Because the last 3 years have been so good for America.

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joseph ... to Darkitec 2012/05/07 22:07:04

They have been a hell of lot better than the 8 years Bush made us suffer through and almost everything since then that he caused-- the loss of 8.5 million jobs, refuing to pay for his wars, refusing to raise taxes on the top 1%, quadrupling the deficit and leaving the country in economic collapse.
Being naive , you blame Obama for Bush's crimes and ineptitude. You are about as ignorant as they come.

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Darkitec to joseph ... 2012/05/08 14:55:04 (edited)

You crack me up. I'm assuming you are wearing opaque glasses, and have no knowledge of history. But if you believe higher taxes, more regulation, and (oops) 14.5% unemployment and 6% inflation is good for the country, go for it.

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