Polls: Voters dislike attack ads, yet they continue
UNDATED – A new poll shows that most voters reject negative political advertising – the kind that is flooding the airwaves these days.
According to the SurveyUSA poll, 73 percent of people said it is inappropriate for candidates to put out negative ads against their opponent while 25 percent said it is OK. READ MORE ON POLL
Here's how people say negative campaigns affect their voting decisions:
- 34 percent say it makes them not want to vote
- 26 percent say it makes them want to vote even more
- 40 percent say it does not affect them
But candidates know the research – going negative is usually a positive for their campaigns.
"I wish I could think of a case where attack ads didn't work," said Bohn Lattin, a University of Portland communications professor. "Voters will tell you that they want no negative ads, but they listen to them and they remember them. They are effective."
Take the child abuse accusation against Republican Matt Wingard of Wilsonville.
Mailers have gone out to voters in House District 26 claiming he hit his 7-year-old on the head with a screwdriver three times. New flyers accuse him of hitting, slapping, kicking, bruising and force-feeding the boy. The fliers also claim he tried to get out of paying child support but that lawyers kept him out of jail.
Wingard denies the allegations – only admitting he hit his son on the head when they were "messing around." He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.
Yet the mudslinging may stick.
"When you come out with a really sensational attack ad like this one is, then people are going to say, 'There must be some element of truth to it, or they wouldn't dare,' " the professor said.
Expect to see more attack ads in the coming weeks from candidates who are trailing in the polls.
"If you're behind you generally have to do something, and it works, it's effective, and it's easy," Lattin said.
On a side note, negative campaigning is nothing new. Ugly accusations go all the way back to the days of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson convinced many Americans that Adams desperately wanted to attack France. The claim was completely untrue, but voters bought it, and Jefferson won the election.
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