Consultant on cspan explained why NEGATIVE ads work.

[napi21]

His name is Doug Bailey, and all the description said is that he's a political consultant.

He said "If I want you to vote for me, I have to tell you a lot of things, about my personality, my positions on several topics you care about, show that you can trust me, and be personable enough to like me...at least a little. That's very difficult, if not impossible, to do in a very short ad spot. It's much easier for me to tell you ONE BIG reason to vote AGAINST my opponent, becasue you only need one reason to vote against him. If I only have 30 or 60 seconds to give you a message, the only one I CAN do has got to be the reason to vote AGANST my opponent!"

I guess we all really knew that, but it was interesting to hear someone say it!

[FormerDittoHead]

1. That is one of the two ugly truths of campaign advertising...

The second truth is that in ~90% of the cases, the victory goes to the one who spends the most...

[tridim]

2. And a good reason to take the $$$ out of campaign ads

Even the playing field and the problems will go away.

[FormerDittoHead]

4. I agree...

Take out broadcast ads out of the mix, and you'll lower the cost of campaigns 80-90%...

[electropop]

3. It's good news this year.

There is an endless supply of negative crap available to use against Repubs, and we don't even have to lie (like they do). Dems (sadly) are divided on many critical issues, so it's hard to do coherent positive ads. But we (and our "leaders") all agree on the Culture of Corruption and its many horrible consequences.