Blogs

Ad-Avoidance Season Is Upon Us

By Vaughn Ververs

September 27, 2006 / 11:50 AM EDT / CBS News

(CBS/AP)

Why are we subjected to a barrage of negative political ads each and every election season? Because they work, of course. This year's wave of distorted name-calling and character assassination is now upon us, according to the New York Times' Adam Nagourney who reports that at least 30 new campaign ads began running across the nation yesterday, "of those, three were positive." More Nagourney on the ads:

For Republicans, it was the leading edge of a wave of negative advertisements against Democratic candidates, the product of more than a year of research into the personal and professional backgrounds of Democratic challengers. …
… For Democrats, it was part of a barrage intended to tie Republican incumbents to an unpopular Congress, criticizing their voting records, portray them as captives to special interests and highlight embarrassing moments from their business histories.

Ad-skipping on TiVo never looked so good.