2011/01/10 by Erika Franklin Fowler, Travis N. Ridout · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Media Influence and Politics #Social Media and Politics
paper · doi:10.2202/1540-8884.1411
openalex publication_date 2011/01/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Political advertising offers an important window on American campaigns and elections. We analyze a comprehensive database of political ads aired during the 2010 midterms to shed light on campaign strategies in this history-making election. We find that with the increase in competitive races in 2010, the volume of advertising rose too, as did its negativity. Moreover, we track the issues mentioned by each party, finding that while the parties agreed that employment was the top issue, there was also much divergence in issue priorities, with Republicans taking up some unlikely themes such as health care and change. The high volume of advertising in 2010 suggests a greater potential for voter learning, but the high levels of ad negativity could have had both positive and negative consequences on the electorate.