Political Attack Ads: Their Impact On Americans
Political Attack Ads: Their impact on Americans
National University
Political advertisements have been a pervasive part of politics in the United States since the dawn of television. Presidential candidates have been making an appearance in the living rooms of Americans since Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced a series of short campaign ads to the world of television during his presidential race (livingroomcandidate.org par.1, 2012). From the beginning researchers regarded television as a medium that had the potential to allow people to become more informed, and therefore more included leading to a nonpartisan democracy (Gurevitch, Coleman, & Blumler, 2009). Individuals who, in the past, had limited access to current affairs …show more content…
They are inclined to believe that such attack ads undermine not only the election but the democratic government as well. John Greer Author of In Defense of Negativity disagrees with this theory. Greer believes that these political ads enrich the democratic process, providing voters with relevant and substantial information before they head to the polls as they are pitched battles for control of the government (2006). Greer points out that exaggeration in political ads not only apply to negative ads, but to positive election propaganda as well (2006). Many ads point out the positive aspects of a candidates race to become president such as President Reagan’s advertisement of his tax cuts, however he failed to mention the tax increase he previously signed into law. This ad and other similar political ads were not labeled as misleading (Greer, 2006). Americans tend to assume that positive political ads are practical and truthful. Greer states that Bob Squire once said “most lies in politics are told in positive ads” (Greer, 2006). This statement asserts that regardless of the content of the ad it is impossible to truly assess whether or not the ad is
National University
Political advertisements have been a pervasive part of politics in the United States since the dawn of television. Presidential candidates have been making an appearance in the living rooms of Americans since Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced a series of short campaign ads to the world of television during his presidential race (livingroomcandidate.org par.1, 2012). From the beginning researchers regarded television as a medium that had the potential to allow people to become more informed, and therefore more included leading to a nonpartisan democracy (Gurevitch, Coleman, & Blumler, 2009). Individuals who, in the past, had limited access to current affairs …show more content…
They are inclined to believe that such attack ads undermine not only the election but the democratic government as well. John Greer Author of In Defense of Negativity disagrees with this theory. Greer believes that these political ads enrich the democratic process, providing voters with relevant and substantial information before they head to the polls as they are pitched battles for control of the government (2006). Greer points out that exaggeration in political ads not only apply to negative ads, but to positive election propaganda as well (2006). Many ads point out the positive aspects of a candidates race to become president such as President Reagan’s advertisement of his tax cuts, however he failed to mention the tax increase he previously signed into law. This ad and other similar political ads were not labeled as misleading (Greer, 2006). Americans tend to assume that positive political ads are practical and truthful. Greer states that Bob Squire once said “most lies in politics are told in positive ads” (Greer, 2006). This statement asserts that regardless of the content of the ad it is impossible to truly assess whether or not the ad is