Candidate-Sponsored TV Ads for the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election: A Content Analysis

In 2004, roughly 44% of presidential candidate–sponsored political ads were negatively framed, with more than 90% of the attack ads featuring direct attacks against the opponent's persona and/or policies. Perhaps the presence of attack ads by 527 groups lowered the bar for candidate-sponsored ads, as the electorate was desensitized by the mudslinging barrage. Although candidate evaluations are higher after candidate-sponsored than party-sponsored attack ads, backlash fears mitigated the negativity of many candidate-sponsored ads. Nonetheless, negativity pervaded many of these presidential candidate–sponsored ads. Perhaps backlash fears have decreased to the point that candidates no longer dread the repercussions of negative ads.