Despite all the jokes about slash-and-burn political ads, television commercials in the presidential campaign have been overwhelmingly positive, according to a study to be released today by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project.
Ninety percent of commercials aired so far in the presidential campaign were judged â??positive,â? which the research team defined as speaking solely about the candidate or their policies. Just 10 percent were judged to have any negative content at all, according to the study, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project and funded by the non-partisan Joyce Foundation based in Chicago.
Democrat John Edwards, who dropped out of the race this week, was the rare exception. The study found 81% of Edwardsâ?? ads were contrast ads and in virtually all he criticized Obama and Clinton. â??So, while most attention in free media went to flare-ups between Clinton and Obama,â? said Ken Goldstein, a University of Wisconsin political science professor and primary author of the study, â??Edwards was most likely to focus on his competitors in paid media.”