The Year of the Negative Ad
2012-01-03 - by
I begin this new year by publicly thanking the U.S. Supreme Court for all it has done to make 2012 the Year of the Negative Ad.
The high court’s bold, wise Citizens United decision already has claimed one victim – and an appropriate one: Newt Gingrich. But the best is yet to come.
Campaigns used to struggle over negative ads. You had to decide how much of your media buy should be positive and how much negative. Frequently you had to fight with the candidate, with his or her spouse, with their friends, et al who would tell you: “Voters don’t like negative ads.” Finally you had to worry about blowback for your candidate if you were too nasty.
No more. Thanks to the court, you just form a super-PAC, raise millions from secret donors and pound the hell out of anybody you don’t like.
Wait ‘til the Obama surrogates zero in on Mitt Romney. Americans will think Bain Capital caused the recession.
Best of all, this provides a new stream of income for political consultants and ad makers. They’re drooling over the commissions that will flow from millions of dollars in negative ads.
So, members of American’s high court, we who are about to unsheathe our swords to slay our enemies salute you!
The Year of the Negative Ad
2012-01-03/
I begin this new year by publicly thanking the U.S. Supreme Court for all it has done to make 2012 the Year of the Negative Ad.
The high court’s bold, wise Citizens United decision already has claimed one victim – and an appropriate one: Newt Gingrich. But the best is yet to come.
Campaigns used to struggle over negative ads. You had to decide how much of your media buy should be positive and how much negative. Frequently you had to fight with the candidate, with his or her spouse, with their friends, et al who would tell you: “Voters don’t like negative ads.” Finally you had to worry about blowback for your candidate if you were too nasty.
No more. Thanks to the court, you just form a super-PAC, raise millions from secret donors and pound the hell out of anybody you don’t like.
Wait ‘til the Obama surrogates zero in on Mitt Romney. Americans will think Bain Capital caused the recession.
Best of all, this provides a new stream of income for political consultants and ad makers. They’re drooling over the commissions that will flow from millions of dollars in negative ads.
So, members of American’s high court, we who are about to unsheathe our swords to slay our enemies salute you!