Minnesota’s Star Tribune reported on March 2 that despite this year’s intense presidential election, some, like Brown University Professor Darrel West, still say that TV commercials are playing a reduced role in the election.
According to Brown, who wrote a book on presidential political advertising titled “Air Wars,” the 2008 election is based on critical issues such as the war in Iraq and the U.S. economy. Brown argues that these are two messages that are not easily spun in political commercials. Instead, Brown believes candidates are using debates and rhetoric to draw voters to the polls.
That said, no one disputes that TV advertising remains the bedrock of political advertising, and specifically of presidential campaign and election advertising.
One thing is for certain, the nature of the 2008 campaign is different from anything we as a country have ever known before. While TV is still king, we now also have the inclusion and prominence of You Tube, online social networks like Facebook and My Space, the presidential candidates’ own websites and web forums and all sorts of other means of online political and campaign advertising.
Everyone agrees that political ads that may have ‘cut the mustard” in, say, the 2004 presidential campaign just won’t work today. That’s a function of our ever-changing online political advertising climate plus the fact we do not have an incumbent or “shoe-in” running in this up-for-grabs presidential election year.
