This is an excellent article last month in The Atlantic Monthly about the lousiness of election campaign commercials titled, “Dumb and Dumber.” The basic message: television commercials for products (beer, computers, cell phones) value innovation, but television commercials for election candidates value blandness.
It presents some great numbers, like the trend towards packing more information into election ads over the years. And guess what, the “teachable moment”-motivated Democrats are 5 times worse than the Republicans – “from 1952 to 1996 the average number of issues covered in Republican ads rose by 115 percent, and in Democratic ads by a kamikaze 519 percent.” Stupid, stupid Democrats. Well intentioned, but just can’t help themselves.
The overall pattern: “Over time, political ads have become more confusing, shorter, and more malevolent,” with the last part referring to negative advertising. More importantly, they have just numbed the public into disinterest. Kind of like ocean conservation. Information is a powerful resource with both the power to stimulate and the power to bore.