Susan Page has a piece up in USA Today about how campaign ads are affecting swing states. So far, they've given President Obama a boost:
In a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of swing states, an overwhelming majority of voters remember seeing campaign ads over the past month; most voters in other states say they haven't. In the battlegrounds, one in 12 say the commercials have changed their minds about President Obama or Republican Mitt Romney — a difference on the margins, but one that could prove crucial in a close race.
At this point, Obama is the clear winner in the ad wars. Among swing-state voters who say the ads have changed their minds about a candidate, rather than just confirmed what they already thought, 76% now support the president, vs. 16% favoring Romney.
"We gave them new information," says Obama campaign manager Jim Messina. "Romney had been out there claiming success as governor," but Democratic ads have prompted voters to "take a look at his record" on job creation and as head of the private-equity firm Bain Capital. Messina also credits a $25 million buy for a positive ad "about the challenges the president inherited and what we had to do to move this country forward."
Of those polled, 13% of Democrats have changed their minds, 9% of independents have, along with 3% of Republicans.
It may not sound like much, but those "independents" can make a difference come November. Let's hope things continue to go the president's way. However, he's at a huge disadvantage when it comes to donations with which to buy those ads. Please click on that for details and direct links to Obama donation pages.
And earlier I posted about those political attack ads that “tend to be less scrupulous about the facts”… We're stuck with them, but at least there is some advice included about how to deal with it.
The post Poll-itics: "At this point, Obama is the clear winner in the ad wars." appeared first on The Political Carnival.
