BY DAVID DEACON
The political ads used in the just concluded presidential election were extremely immature and unruly. Dave Seyler, a political journalist for the Radio and Television Business Report, stated that “According to a new survey, 88% of Americans disapprove of negative political advertising, and about a third will change the channel rather than watch one.” Since ads are irritating to the average viewer, voters are being turned away from the political parties they are associated with. According to Jeremy Peters, a political reporter for the New York Times, 92% of political ads this year were negative. Instead of highlighting the positive aspects of a political party, candidates are trying harder to tarnish the reputation of their adversaries.
The most noticeable things in this year’s political battles were the nasty and cruel commercials that the candidates slung at each other. Each ad was more uncalled for than the last. Candidates should have been trying to let the public know why you should vote for them, not making their opponent look like a criminal. Ads approved by the Romney campaign placed the blame for rising gas prices, China’s trade policies, and the current state of our economy on Obama alone. To counteract Romney’s commercials, Obama came out with broadcasts that made Romney appear inhuman; implying that Romney didn’t care about people with disabilities or the middle class. The candidates didn’t make themselves look better by stating what they stood for, but rather, by making their opponent look immoral and wrong.
Due to new technologies, it’s hard not to see political ads everywhere. According to OpenSecrets.com, Obama has raised about $632 million, and Romney has raised about $389 million for advertising. Each candidate has used their funds to help spread their ideas by any annoying means. Political ads litter the Internet on just about every major website. Youtube.com, one the most visited sites in America is plagued with political commercials. If you want to see a video, more often than not, you have to see a short, 30-second political ad first.
The dishonesty of each ad is ridiculous; each candidate expands on one trivial aspect of the opposite contender, and draws it out into a terrible lie. The ads may use facts, but their candidates twist those facts beyond belief. The problem with this is that people don’t research the candidates being challenged; the political ads would have almost no effect on the public if people actually looked up how true these accusations are. For example, a political ad paid for by Obama claimed that Romney outsourced jobs to China, Mexico, and India. When the simple words “Romney outsourcing” is typed into the Google search engine, the ad is proved wrong. The company that Romney “outsourced” was CSI/Stream International and the facts show that Romney had foreign calls centers, designed for foreign employees, and he also had call centers in Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas. When the bare minimum research is done, the claim is proven wrong.
Political ads have been an effective way for candidates to spread their ideas to the people in modern day America. However, today’s political ads are disrespectful and deceitful. If the United States continues down this path of unethical political advertisements, there will be no good left in the political system to speak of.
