We're in political ad hell right now. Just about every one is an attack ad and they're beyond tiresome. It's become near-impossible to watch TV without muting the sound.

A couple of exceptions that made me long for the good old days when a candidate just tried to get their name, face, and message out there....





How bad are things in your neck of the woods? Or do y'all only stream stuff and/or don't watch TV at all?

Same here. The majority of ads are attack ads trying to characterize the opponent as a) a dangerous liberal radical socialist, b) an extremist right-wing associate of QAnon or another such group, c) aiming to raise taxes to exorbitant levels, d) outlawing abortion in all cases, e) soft on crime and aiming to defund police and free every sort of criminal, f) etc, etc, etc.

A smaller subset of ads talk about what a candidate has done in the past as some example of what they may do if elected. Another small subset tries to give some ideas of the candidate's character or family life. Finally, a tiny fraction of the ads actually address specific policy issues or positions on likely upcoming legislation.

There is a good bit of information on candidates' websites in a number of instances, although even there the use of code words can obscure their real intentions, but they're a significant improvement over the TV ads. Even the mail ads are largely devoid of content in many cases. I don't see so many signs along roads and in yards in this election because the major races (governor, US senator, US representative, state senator, and state representative in my district) are using other advertising. The signs tend to pop up more with local or county elections to generate name recognition.

I mostly try to close my ears when the TV ads are on. I've heard many of them so many times that I could repeat the dialogue without hearing the audio. They're an extra bit more annoying to me because I've already voted. I wish there was some way to turn them off just like I wish I could silence the pledge drives on public radio after I've already donated.

Big Al

WaPo has a piece on ads.

quote:

After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June, Democrats made protecting abortion rights the central theme of their pitch to voters in the midterms, and they have spent $103 million on such ads in congressional races since Labor Day, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks television and digital ad spending. No other issue comes close in Democrats’ overall ad spending.

Republicans, meanwhile, have largely ignored abortion rights in their campaign ads and have instead zeroed in on three issues where they believe Democrats have real liabilities: the economy, rising crime rates and an unpopular first-term president.

Overall, the two parties have spent roughly the same amount of money saturating the airwaves in congressional races, but the issues they’ve made central to their campaigns underscore how each side is talking past the other and warning of starkly different threats to the country’s future.

https://wapo.st/3gGPGy6

I'm on a self-imposed non-print news blackout between now and the election for exactly that reason. Ditto for TV. If I want to watch something, I'll watch on cable.

The ads we see here amazing. And so many!

Yeah, only stream stuff and don't watch much TV.

We used to live in a tiny house in Hawaii. This was before large (and small) flat screens became ubiquitous.

It was a concrete block house. We put a 13" TV in it and it was loud. Of course the sound never stopped and the commercials constantly raising the volume became unbearable.

I'm very sensitive to sound. I got rid of the TV and never really looked back. This was ten years ago.