Study: Recent Obama Ads More Negative

Washington Post: Democrat Aired More Negative Advertising Than McCain In The Last Week

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Howard Kurtz.

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Despite perceptions that Sen. John McCain has spent more time on the attack, Sen. Barack Obama aired more negative advertising last week than did the Arizona Republican, says a study released yesterday.

Seventy-seven percent of the Illinois Democrat's commercials were negative during the week after the Republican National Convention, compared with 56 percent of the spots run by McCain.

See Recent Ads From Both Candidates

Ken Goldstein, who directed the study by the Wisconsin Advertising Project, based at the University of Wisconsin, says the pattern was a reversal from earlier months, in which McCain's advertising was consistently more negative than Obama's.

"It suggests that the Sarah Palin pick and the newfound aggressiveness by McCain got into Obama's head a little bit," Goldstein said. "He was under great pressure to show some spine, be aggressive, fire back."

The study found Obama limiting his television buys to 17 states and McCain airing spots in 15. For all the talk of an expanded electoral map, both campaigns are concentrating resources in traditional battlegrounds, with slightly more than half the total spent on advertising going to Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

"Shockingly, this race is going to come down to swing voters in the same swing states that decided the last two elections," Goldstein said.

The study says the campaigns poured $15 million into the ad wars last week -- they were virtually even in total spending -- but the figures revealed an important distinction. Obama, who has rejected public financing in favor of private fundraising, paid for 97 percent of his spots. McCain, who is limited to an $84 million federal subsidy, financed 43 percent of his commercials, with the rest airing in conjunction with the Republican National Committee. These "hybrid" spots allow McCain to retain control while the party foots much of the bill.

Obama spent more on ads in Florida, $1.3 million, but that was nearly matched by McCain's $1 million. The most McCain spent was in traditionally Democratic Pennsylvania -- $1.6 million to Obama's $948.000.

Obama was on the air in Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, North Dakota and Montana, all states won by President Bush in the last two elections.

Interest-group advertising was marginal at $187,000, although that is expected to ramp up in the coming weeks. Three pro-Obama groups aired commercials -- the Service Employees International Union, Defenders of Wildlife and Planned Parenthood -- while one, Vets for Freedom, ran spots on McCain's behalf.

[gaymale1]

Obama IS GOING TO LOOSE , and he knows it ; of course he is going to be NEGATIVE . I do NOT trust him, he is as slippery as swamp scum . Obama keeps doing his "rock star " thing here in Colordo ; most active voters are NOT IMPRESSED . As a former Hillary delegate , I would NOT EVEN consider VOTING for obama .CBS REALLY NEEDS TO DO A REAL HONEST POLL, ON THEIR SITE , ENOUGH FACK POLL RESULTS. I HAVE NEVER BEEN POLLED .

[G H M]

Sarah Palin and Peglerology -Sarah Palin%u2019s acceptance speech is : "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity is form original author Pegler
now McCain the De-regulator wants regulation on wall street---Lies
McCain say Obama will have *** education for kindergarten children Lies
McCain say the pig thing was about the his vp pick --Lies
Pulin say never took earmarks %u2013Lies
Pulin says Iraq caused 9-11 --Lies
McCain pick Pulin because she best qualified ---LIES
McCain is a maverick and goes across the aisle %u2013 LIES
McCain is against Bush and his fellow Republicans - LIES
McCain blames Obama for the high gasoline prices %u2013 LIES
McCain doesn%u2019t know how many home he has --- Lies
McCain will help home owner that lose their homes ---LIES
McCain came up with the surge---LIES
McCain will give us a tax better break ---LIES
McCain vote for woman%u2019s rights---LIES
McCain support seniors ----LIES
McCain supports the Iraq vets with his vote ---LIES
Palin was always against the bridge to nowhere --LIES

[G H M]

Good!!
About time.
Good
McDe-regulation
McSame
McLair
McJust-don''t get it
McBush
McI didn''t say that
McFlipFlop
McPulin
McStakes
McWar
McWrong
Mcloser
McDon''t vote for him
McLies
etc etc

[pmsnbc1]

Mccain tried to get legislation passed in 2004 that would have overhauled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He saw the problem and tried to do something.

nobama just took the money.

[michael_powell--2008]

----Don''''t you just love the way Babs and Charlie Gibson and Matt Daimon and Katy Couric are all just jumping with glee that their taxes are going to be raised and redistributed????----

Posted by rookieat65

By the way CHARLIE GIBSON is a known Republican. Why do you think McCain gave him the Palin interview. Do some research before you start eating your own. And by the way they make more than a million dollars a year and will be taxed. The rest of us that make less than a million are looking forward to a tax cut under the Obama administration, and are glad there are patriots like Barbara Streisand and Matt Damon willing to take a tax increase to get us out of the the chaos Bush has produced. So much for small government Republicans. Their party is bigger government today than their worst Democratic nightmare. I''ll wave good riddance as the Republic-an party swirls down the toilet that they''ve flushed for themselves.

[tslogg1]

Obama sees himself as our economic savior. But with recent Wall Street crash, I didn''t see any leadership solutions from him except attacking McCain in the ads and shouting about McCain in the crowds.

[mycommentspg]

This election is not about which candidate can give the best speech or run the most negative ad. Study the real issues and choose the candidate that is best qualified and experienced to be elected President. http://mycommentspage.blogspot.com/

[xmanborg]

martel_v

STOP POSTING THE SAME KRAP OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Typical Republican if you say it countless times people start to believe your krap.

[michael_powell--2008]

---Liberals don''''t believe ordinary people can do extraordinary things. If they wanted to promote that, there would be no need for liberalism.---

Posted by littlebuddyd

WRONG. Liberals believe ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Like vote for a REAL change in Washington!

[xmanborg]

The PALIN BOUNCE IS OVER and now the Republicans have to start being realistic and answering questions about the economy which McSuperLame knows nothing about and Sarah Palin (WHO HAS ONLY HAD A PASSPORT FOR LESS THEN A YEAR and never set foot in IRAQ) & is not qualified to be President has to debate in front of the camara without a teleprompter or somebody to help them out.

Watch out the Debates are going to be good and Sarah Palin is going to fall flat on her face and McSuperLame is going to stumble and make a fool of him self on National TV.

[michael_powell--2008]

---The news media is the only business in the world where the customer is always wrong. If you complain about bias, they just get more biased and say, ''''Take this, you dunce! Screw you! You think we''''re biased now? Try this!'''' And then they start licking Obama''''s feet.----

Posted by littlebuddyd

Wow. You do live in a cave. I was buying this post all the way to the end. Unless you really meant "licking McCain''s feet."

[martel_v]

Of course, McCain''s entire public career has been an interesting psychological study of just how a human being can go while knowing as little as possible about anything and without having any convictions at all.

He has been consistent on only one point - that we should all see his strongly worded convictions as being just exactly the same as his strongly worded convictions expressing the completely opposite point of view the following day.

His economic ''policies'' are just the latest example of this disability. He deserves pity, but not my vote. We''ve already had two presidents for 16 of the last 28 years who''ve had mental disabilities. We can''t survive another one.

[martel_v]

McCain = Change and regulate Corps and Govt. and Banks
Obama = Blame all the Republicans for everything - Posted by cwazywabt

McCain, whose entire public career has been all about COMPLETELY eliminating ALL government regulation of ANYTHING in the business sector is suddenly - yesterday - the agent of "change" who is going to regulate the markets even though he has admitted very publicly that he doesn''t know much of anything about economics.

He''s going to do that even though his chief economic advisor says that America is not in a real recession; that it''s just a case of Americans being in a ''mental recession''.

Obama has been campaigning for government regulation of markets and companies which trade in the markets all along...so, suddenly, he''s just ''blaming republicans'' and, therefore, not the great change-monger that McCain is.

Obama has been calling for more regulation of the markets, of course, because there is no such thing as a ''free market'' unless there is a powerful entity FORCING the market to remain ''free''.

Markets are, by their very nature, easily subject to manipulation and monopoly. Those who are in the markets are there for one reason only - to make as much money as they possibly can in any way that they can. Those who are lucky in the markets soon understand that they can make much more money by CONTROLLING the markets and eliminating the competition - which is what invariably happens when there is no government policing effort to keep them honest.

[martel_v]

Not that any of this matters just now. The Democrats are about to crush the fascists, who have done their best to destroy America for the last 30 years with their cultural civil war and their absurdly ridiculous ray-gun-omics, and begin to put the nation and the society back together again.

[martel_v]

It''s interesting that those who demand socialism for the rich (otherwise known as fascism) can spew a flooding toxic river of lies, hypocrisy and hate 365 days a year - every year - but, when called on their vile behaviors and irrationality, insist that those who oppose their insanity deserve it because "The Endless Hate Anger and Rage that Democrats have is what is wrong with America".

Obama''s ads were judged by one very small group as ''more negative'' for one week because they were finally pointing out the mountain of outright lies and the in-your-face hypocrisy of the McCain campaign and its ads.

McCain and his sock-puppet-who-would-be-president seem to believe that they have the right to continuously lie and behave as hypocrites because Obama won''t do what McCain tells him to do - which also seems to be the arrogant point of view of most of his fellow members of the socialism-for-the-rich party. They don''t believe that their hateful lies and hypocrisy are behaviors for which they should be reprimanded. In fact, they seem to believe that they''re owed an apology for seemingly being unable to do anything else.

For the fascists, lies and hypocrisy are holy acts. In their view, Democrats have no right to say or do anything at all because, well, they aren''t rich and they don''t want to conquer the world - therefore they aren''t ''holy Americans''.

[blamegovt]

Gotta love the ''''cons. They spew endless hate against Obama, Dems, libs, gay, anyone who doesn''''t goosestep right with them, yet criticize us when we respond in kind.
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Posted by rafterman1

LOL. Contrary to the article. Denial is really not a viable tactic.

[blamegovt]

The Endless Hate Anger and Rage that Democrats have is what is wrong with America. O''''Bama went on his World O%u2019Bomination Tour and the Democrats were shocked to find not one world leader who would condemn the United States or George Bush. France, Germany and Spain all said they like Bush and Love America. The Democrats were completely confused by the fact that no one or no country hates America or Bush as much as Democrats except for Muslim Terrorists. In 2007, there were more applications for American Citizenship than ever in history. Yet Democrats believe that America is the worst country on earth and many Democrats have said we deserve any terrorist attack because, somehow, its always our fault. And these Democrats want to run the country.
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Posted by demslie2u

Totally agree. The study proves the hatefulness of this candidate and this party. The hate is different in California than it is in Virginia. The only Change is the message based upon where Obama is campaigning. Now all the hate is on the lovely Governor of Alaska and not on the economy or more important issues. Shame on the Democrats. Now watch the hateful comments from Obama Supporters.

[tcoleman12]

I''d bet $100 that Obama is saving the bulk of his money changing all of his stickers and signs to Obama/Clinton for when he ditches Biden.
Talk about a guy who can''t make a decision?!?

[gwjackie]

This country is in such a mess how will anyone get it straigh after what Bush and Cheney has done. The things the republicans have done is such a shame.

[gunfighter51]

Barry should give up trying to be tough. When you try to be something your not, that can be a bad thing.

He could easily be compared to Harry (We just don''t know what to do) Reid.