Introduction

Political candidates in the United States spend hundreds of millions of dollars each election year on political ads designed to influence voterś judgments about and choices among candidates. Campaign ads are so important that some campaigns spend up to two thirds of their budgets on ad production and airtime. Political advertising is an especially good communication tool because it reaches a wide audience and allows candidates to control the information content voters obtain, whereas the news media may “filter, alter, distort or ignore altogether” the candidate and his or her message (Ansolabehere, Behr, & Iyengar, 1993, p. 1). Ads are so pervasive that they now constitute a significant portion of the candidate information voters receive.

As the prevalence of televised political advertising has grown, so has concern about the content and effects of political ads. Citizens routinely complain about the nastiness and negativity of political ads. Negative advertising alienates the voting public and may even decrease voter turnout (Ansolabehere & Iyengar, 1995; Ansolabehere, Iyengar, & Simon, 1999; Ansolabehere, Iyengar, Simon, & Valentino, 1994; Kahn & Kenney, 1999; Lau, Sigelman, Heldman, & Babbitt, 1999; Wattenberg & Brians, 1999).

News organizations are most concerned about the accuracy of information in ads. The media use “Ad Watches” to scrutinize the veracity of ads because they are convinced that ads are manipulative and misleading. Ironically, Ad Watches have also helped legitimate the use of political ads as the dominant form of campaign communication (Kaid, Gobetz, Garner, Leland, & Scott, 1993).