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Attack ads have
their uses,
political scientist’s research shows
by Ann Marie Deer Owens
Although many Americans blame negative campaign advertising for voter disinterest, political scientist John Geer says negative ads are getting a bum rap in the debate about campaign reform.
“Some people have actually recommended that we find ways to ban negative ads, that we want to stop candidates from attacking the opposition,” Geer said during a Sept. 15 Nashville Forum address. “That is serious because we are talking about the First Amendment right of freedom of speech.”
Geer has published research in the general area of elections and assesses political advertising in presidential elections as part of an ongoing project. His current and past research has contributed to his serving as vice chair of the Task Force on Campaign Reform, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The panel recently issued a report, “Campaign Reform: Insights and Evidence,” which found political attack ads could be legitimate.
“Americans like a good fight, and attacks stimulate voter interest,” Geer said. “In addition, our research showed that attack ads contain more information than the positive ads, and people remember the negative ones better.” Negative ads might also remind people of why they have traditionally supported one party over the other, he said.
However, distortions, exaggerations or outright lies are never legitimate campaign tactics, Geer emphasized, adding that those interested in campaign reform should work to stop misleading ads, regardless of the tone of the message. Research shows about half of political advertisements contain at least one misleading statement, he said.
The report applauds the use of so-called ad watches, the systematic efforts by journalists to monitor and report on the truthfulness of campaign ads. It recommends that the reporters move away from some of the more traditional day-to-day coverage of campaigns to devote time and expertise to researching the accuracy of ads.
A hot issue debated by Congress in recent sessions is possible reform of the campaign finance system. The task force recommended a system of partial public funding of congressional campaigns similar to the one now used for presidential primary candidates.
“We did not find that too much money
is being on campaigns,” Geer said. “In fact, the problem is that too little is
being spent.”
At least in the congressional primary races, candidates should be offered public matching
funds in proportion to their success in raising private money in small individual
contributions, he suggested.
Major-party nominees would be offered significant lump sums for the general election campaign.
“The challengers are in such a hole
to begin with that the incumbents are able to crush them right away,” he said.
The report also made recommendations about soft money, which Geer said has the benefit of
building the parties but has become a huge loophole in the fund-raising process. “I
personally would like to see any set of rules that is put forward have a five-year
limitation,” Geer said. “The rules should fade after five years because
candidates and politicians always find the loopholes to circumvent the law.”
The report endorsed efforts to engage more citizens in the electoral process through non-partisan civic groups such as Project Vote Smart. It gathers information on more than 20,000 candidates and elected officials. The information is available via the Internet and by telephone through a toll-free line. Kids Voting USA is another organization that receives kudos from the task force for increasing political participation by families.
Overall, a real problem is that the public thinks the political system is broken. Ways should to be found to communicate the good side of politics, Geer said. Political scientists should need to increase efforts to communicate their research findings to the public, he suggested.
Government does respond to citizen
pressure for a change in policy; however, citizens must remember that the nation’s
founders set up a system designed to create hurdles for political change, Geer said.
Eventually, he said, that system does work.
Geer is the author of “From Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls” and “Politicians
and Party Politics,” published this year by The Johns Hopkins Press.
From the Vanderbilt Register, September 21-27, 1998, Volume XIX, Issue Number 5. The Vanderbilt Register is a publication of Vanderbilt University for faculty, staff, students and others of the University community.