Just wondering if anyone else laughs everytime a political ad comes on. I mean I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel sorry for the people who actually base their vote on these commercials...I simply find them high quality comedy. Vote for this candidate, or all the babies in the world will die of the flu...Vote for this candidate, or you will die a horrible death tomorrow...etc.
I am with you on this one but of all this season, I must admit that I really like GWB's whatever it takes commercial. Since I am in Texas I may not have seen all the commercials seen in battle ground states but that one that I named above is easily the best imho this season. Nice.
I was watching TV and the Tom Delay commercial came on. It started off by talking about how their opponent's campaign resorted to bashing them, and then bashed their opponent. Never once did a single issue come up.
I just got through watching a low Bush commercial, completely full of garbage, and was surprised when George and Laura (Laura looks up at George with a loving, cow-like expression... sorry, Laura, but it was cow-like) appear in "country" garb, and Bush's voice-over says, "I'm George Bush, and I approve this message." I expected one of the 527's to be putting up that junk. I was watching CNN at the time. Keep D&D Civil!!
I see what you are saying but if these so called negative ads didn't exist, all candidates would look exactly the same. Every single candidate would come on wearing a shirt (with the sleeves rolled up) and tie and talking to some dude in a hard-hat. Or some old lady. Or a bunch of kids. They would all talk about what a family man the candidate is and how they believe in lowering taxes and supporting teachers, giving kids a future, you know, all these broad obvious topics that everyone wants.
is that tagline a Republican only thing? I don't think I've seen any Democrat ads with that. it's the most annoying part of the commercials to me.
If I recall correctly, I think it's required now to say who funded/approved each commercial with all of the 527's and whatnot, but I could be wrong about that.
It's on Kerry's too. I believe it was a part of McCain Feingold. It was designed to lessen negative attacks, since the candidate would have to declare their support for the ad. Didn't really work.
well i meant more the format of the tagline. i know most ads have a voiceover saying "this message paid for by..." but I've seen only GOP ads have them say "I'm (blank) and I approve this message"
No, all Kerry ads put out by his campaign have to have the "I'm John Kerry and i approve of this message as well.
I'm in a swing state and have been BOMBARDED with political ads. All the W ads say "I'm GWB and I approve..." THe positive Kerry ads say "I'm JK and I approve...". THe Kerry attack ads say "This ad paid for by the DNC..." or other groups in support of Kerry. And there are not (m)any positive Kerry ads left. Seems like Kerry is staying within the letter of the law, but not the spirit (at least with the DNC, not sure about the others at all). Smart strategy to make it seem like he is staying above the fray a bit, but it's misleading. But that shouldn't be a surpirse...misleading in politics? Never. As South Park said the other day. It's the Giant Douchebag vs. the Turd Sandwich.
I was just surprised that the Bush campaign associated itself directly with the junk I saw. My point wasn't about the "I approved this message" part, but about Bush really approving the damn thing, if you get my drift. Keep D&D Civil!!
TL (and outlaw): It's a requirement of the McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform act that the ad states who paid for it. If it's paid for by the campaign, the candidate has to say so in his own voice. Every ad from the Kerry camp and every ad from the Bush camp will have the "I'm [Bush or Kerry] and I approved this message" tag. It was the same in the primaries. It's natural that neither candidate wants to come off as negative so a lot of the attack ads come from the party offices or 527's like Swift Vets or MoveOn. But not all of them. I'm in PA and I've seen a hell of a lot of negative ads (in the main game and in smaller races) that were approved by the candidates on both sides.
Yeah, I understand that it's part of the McCain act. Just strange that Bush doesn't use the Republican party the way Kerry seems to be using the Dem to shield himself. My buddy's fiance works reasonably high up in the Kerry campaign. I'll have to ask her about it when she leaves DC.