Do negative ads have any influence in how you vote?

2007 years ago, the Republicans make an attack ad saying that Obama was the greatest celebrity in the world. It backfired.

I would think that a campaign could be run on the facts and let the voters decide how they vote

In Canadian political attack ads, I just chuckle, and It doesn’t change my vote much

I tend to not rely on ads, though I might use them as a starting point with some things. When it comes to issues, I don’t trust what ads say. I see ads for both sides and then go to see what the proposed issue actually says.

As for candidates I really have to learn about only one usually. There is generally an incumbent who is the devil I know. If he is okay, then his opponent needs to show me something that will move me away. If the incumbent is complete crap, I don’t need to watch his/her ads to find something that will erase past performance. But again, ads are usually 30 seconds of hype only. I use that as a way of finding out what a person really would do.

Negative ads tend to turn me off, though. I much prefer the candidate that says “here’s what I see is wrong and what I want to try to address if I am elected”.

It is a little like asking if you are affected by product advertisements. Everyone would say that their purchase decisions are based only on the cost and quaity of the product, Then why do companies spend so much on advertising? And why do politicians spend so much on campaign ads, positive and negative?

I think the awareness of political ads really is different from product advertising, in that most of us have already made up our minds before the ads start. If a claim by somewhat I don’t support against my preferred candidate sounds at all credible, I will likely look into it. If I find it to indeed be credible, I might rethink my position, if the candidates rated close in my previous assessment.

They wouldn’t spend billions on negative ads if they weren’t effective. The Swift boat ads in particular probably swung the election from a decorated Vietnam veteran to a draft-dodger. Of course nobody believes it affects THEM, the data would show that people don’t realize they’re being persuaded.

someone I don’t support. Ugh.

If anything, they steer me away from the person sponsoring the ad. People who have something to crow about don’t have to denigrate anyone else. It’s just the old, “make myself look better by putting someone down”. But it doesn’t work. The way in which you speak of / treat others says more about you than them.

I have two principles in this respect:

1) all advertising is lying (political, of course, but also merchandise)

2) all politicians are liars

Political advertising, therefore, cannot be believed at all. The opposite is almost always true.

I rarely pay attention to the ads.

Funny, some self promoting positive ads have been a turn off to me.

I watch the debates, read the candidates own website, see what organizations and associations they belong too and general google search. I like when the candidate has some video to watch also.

I generally don’t watch television, less affected by them. I also always vote by mail far ahead of election date so even if the ads did it’s too late. For local politicians I have friends who are politicians and I ask them who to vote for.

The mud slinging from both sides tends to get very tiring.
Since the orange hair monster came in the picture, politicians used to attack the others views not the person, and that is what’s truly disgusting.

It’s truly disgusting to attack the person, you can disagree with their views all day if you must but leave personal attacks out of it.
But since the Don Father came into politics ,it seems attacking the person ,and even their family is fair game.

I’m not influenced by ads. I don’t hear them and I don’t read them.

No, but only because I don’t encounter them. I don’t watch television that has advertisements, I do not access the internet via my phone, and I have rigorous ad blockers on my desktop browser. I fully recognize that ads can affect behavior, which is why I’ve done a lot to avoid them.

When a candidate for political office starts vying for our votes they will tell us anything and promise us anything in order to get our vote. However as soon as they get into office all their words and promises go sailing down the river.

This does not just apply to American candidates but candidates all over the world.

I live in the UK and when a General Election comes round all the parties release a Manifesto promising us everything but every Manifesto is a complete work of fiction because the party who wins power virtually always renege on nearly all their election promises.

I always vote because I believe that anyone capable of voting should vote because if they don’t vote they have no right to complain.

Although I read the correspondence from candidates I very rarely believe a word of what they say.

However, I do not vote for a specific party I vote for the party who I consider will do me the least harm not the most good because not one of them ever does me any good.

During voting season we get tons of flyers from people up for election. Some make dubious claims, which I then look into. I always vote against the biggest liar.

Not only negative ones affecting how I vote but also what I watch. There is a particularly anti-trans Republican ad on Hulu in NJ right now so I am holding off on watching the rest of “Only Murders in the Building” until after the election.

@janbb we watched only murders in the building on Disney plus and had no negative ads .

@SQUEEKY2 Unfortunately, I don’t have Disney + and I have cheapo Hulu with ads. It’s ok, I’m halfway through Season 3 and it can wait.

@janbb why don’t you just mute the ads and walk away to use the bathroom or what ever and then if the ad went a little passed the time then rewind.

@Pandora I’m not having a problem with the way I’m handling it. There are other things to watch on other channels.