People already know or are utterly brainwashed. Who do attack ads convince?
Independants/undecided voters and people who don't generally participate in democracy
Something like 60% of people vote in federal elections if we're lucky. Obviously they aren't all going to unanimously vote for only one party - but Republicans are notorious for showing up to vote on anything.
Voter suppression is a pretty big problem that disproportionately affects people who don't vote republican though.
The number of people who are politically disengaged is staggering. What better to motivate those people than to prompt some anger over an issue and hope they care about it enough to stay angry and vote. Also important to note this stuff is never done alone, there's other outreach happening at the same time. It's a numbers game, and those few disengaged folks you got fired up with a stupid ad could make or break you.
That said, I think most attack ads are damaging to political discourse by nature of demanding a concise, pithy message. Never going to get genuine criticism out of that.
Dems have always took the high ground. Which is stupid. It gives the loud minority more reach. Look at space Laser lady.
She was in a safe seat. It's the gun restaurant lady who almost got voted out.
You just ruined my day reminding me that she won re-election.
It doesn't have to be an attack ad. Rebranding what it means to be a Democrat is actually a great idea. Kind of like those "Pass it on" billboards
You need to keep washing the brain or it develops thoughts outside the script.
Then why do the other side do so well when they constantly yell about nothing? Yelling really seems to work.
I always assumed senility played a part as republicans tend to be much older.
People already know or are utterly brainwashed. Who do attack ads convince?
Independants/undecided voters and people who don't generally participate in democracy
Something like 60% of people vote in federal elections if we're lucky. Obviously they aren't all going to unanimously vote for only one party - but Republicans are notorious for showing up to vote on anything.
Voter suppression is a pretty big problem that disproportionately affects people who don't vote republican though.
The number of people who are politically disengaged is staggering. What better to motivate those people than to prompt some anger over an issue and hope they care about it enough to stay angry and vote. Also important to note this stuff is never done alone, there's other outreach happening at the same time. It's a numbers game, and those few disengaged folks you got fired up with a stupid ad could make or break you.
That said, I think most attack ads are damaging to political discourse by nature of demanding a concise, pithy message. Never going to get genuine criticism out of that.
Dems have always took the high ground. Which is stupid. It gives the loud minority more reach. Look at space Laser lady.
She was in a safe seat. It's the gun restaurant lady who almost got voted out.
You just ruined my day reminding me that she won re-election.
It doesn't have to be an attack ad. Rebranding what it means to be a Democrat is actually a great idea. Kind of like those "Pass it on" billboards
You need to keep washing the brain or it develops thoughts outside the script.
Then why do the other side do so well when they constantly yell about nothing? Yelling really seems to work.
I always assumed senility played a part as republicans tend to be much older.