Obama and McCain’s Ads: Equally “Negative”
Despite finger-pointing from both sides, Barack Obama and John McCain’s presidential campaigns have run almost the same number of negative local campaign ads, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Thursday.
From June 3, when the primaries ended, through Sept. 7, the most recent reporting period, the McCain campaign ran 76,192 negative ads against Obama. During the same time period, the Obama campaign placed 75,246 negative commercials against McCain.
Negative advertising by both candidates and the “527” groups that support them has concentrated in the top battleground states, led by Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
| Rank (By # Of Ads) |
State | # Of McCain Negative Ads Placed By Obama & 527s |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | 11,037 |
| 2 | Michigan | 10,397 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 8,974 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 8,569 |
| 5 | Colorado | 4,332 |
| 6 | Florida | 4,112 |
| 7 | Missouri | 3,899 |
| 8 | Nevada | 3,741 |
| 9 | Virginia | 3,260 |
| 10 | Iowa | 3,170 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (June 3, 2008 - September 7, 2008). | ||
| Rank (By # Of Ads) |
State | # Of Obama Negative Ads Placed By McCain & 527s |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | 14,397 |
| 2 | Michigan | 12,292 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | 11,363 |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 10,005 |
| 5 | Iowa | 7,172 |
| 6 | Colorado | 6,016 |
| 7 | Nevada | 4,766 |
| 8 | Missouri | 4,305 |
| 9 | New Mexico | 2,106 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 1,970 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (June 3, 2008 - September 7, 2008). | ||
The three commercials used most frequently by each candidate’s campaigns aired more than 10,000 times each.
| Top 3 McCain Ads Against Obama | # Of Commercials Placed On Local TV |
|---|---|
| Negative - Obama/ Spending/Budget/ Taxes/ Men | 16,354 |
| Negative - Obama/ Higher Taxes/ Foreign Oil | 16,215 |
| Negative - Obama/ Gas / Domestic Drilling | 10,760 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (June 3, 2008 - September 7, 2008). | |
| Top 3 Obama Ads Against McCain | # Of Commercials Placed On Local TV |
|---|---|
| Negative - McCain/ Iraq War/ Oil/ Economy | 11,140 |
| Negative - McCain/ Housing/ Economy | 10,187 |
| Negative - McCain/ Economy/ Taxes/ Iraq War | 10,074 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (June 3, 2008 - September 7, 2008). | |
View each candidate’s top negative ad below.
Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Newsweek, AdAge, the Chicago Tribune’s “The Swamp” political blog, The Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times.
McCain Ad: Expensive Plans
Obama Ad: Book
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
[...] campaign’s been more negative? According to Nielsen, they’re about the same. Despite finger-pointing from both sides, Barack Obama and John [...]
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Please define negative. I have seen some reports that say mentioning your opponent in an add makes it a negative add. How about how factually correct an add is? Please give us your definition or the whole thing is meaningless.
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Brett and CrazyIrishman-
Nielsen defines any ad in which either candidate focuses on criticizing his opponent as “negative.”
Ads in which the candidates promote their own qualifications for office are certainly not considered “negative” — nor are ads in which either candidate only briefly criticizes his opponent.
In order to be considered “negative,” the majority of an ad must be devoted to criticizing the candidate’s opponent.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
What the heck do you mean by negative? Do you mean a legitimate attack, a distortion of an opponents record, or both??
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Measuring Negativity on its own is not a criteria that makes sense in this case. The important difference is which campaign featured more misleading and nonfactual information. The McCain campaign was rightly derided for their lies, not so much for their negativity. I don’t have a real problem if a commercial runs telling me that such and such a candidate voted against the minimum wage increases over 19 times in the last year, if it is accurate. However, an ad stating that a candidate is going to raise my taxes when it isn’t true; that’s just plain lying. Of course, both ads are negative.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
[...] The top-running anti-McCain ad is below. More here. [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 am
[...] The top-running anti-McCain ad is below. More here. [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
After looking at the two ads, it is clear to me that the McCain ad is negative and the Obama ad is not negative (or much less negative). Why? The McCain ad is filled with falsehoods (lies) while the Obama ad just highlights facts.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:10 am
[...] in McCain’s ratio of negative ads. From the end of the primaries and through the conventions, Barack Obama and McCain were about even. According to Nielsen, McCain aired 76,238 negative ads in that span and Obama ran [...]
October 14th, 2008 at 3:30 am
[...] in McCain’s ratio of negative ads. From the end of the primaries and through the conventions, Barack Obama and McCain were about even. According to Nielsen, McCain aired 76,238 negative ads in that span and Obama ran [...]
October 15th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
[...] Nielsen Media Research says that from June 3, when the Democratic primaries ended, through Sept. 7, the most recent reporting period, the McCain campaign ran 76,238 negative ads against Obama, and the Obama campaign placed 75,246 negative commercials against McCain. [...]
October 31st, 2008 at 2:03 am
[...] Nielsen Wire website always says roughly the same thing: Despite finger-pointing from both sides, Barack Obama [...]