As we near the presidential election, the candidates are ramping up their respective campaign efforts. As a result, we are bound to see a flood of advertisements from both candidates. These are their last-ditch efforts to convince you to vote for them, in case you are somehow still on the fence.
The point of this article is not to debate the candidates. That would undoubtedly devolve into a senseless argument anyway. Putting personal political motivations aside, I want to talk about the concept of political advertising as a whole.
Every election cycle, we are subjected to political ads from various candidates. Obviously, the presidential ads are the most prevalent at this moment, but that does not make them the most onerous by default.
The concept of political advertising is interesting in and of itself because of the First Amendment protections afforded to something called “political speech.” Essentially, anything political candidates say to try and get elected is given a wide range of protection by the Supreme Court. Yes, this can even include blatant lies from candidates.
You may be asking yourself why this is allowed. Well, one of the chief supposed reasons is that political speech is very expressive and thus necessary to a functional republic. However, the damage that could be done by blatantly lying to voters seems to be overlooked.
If we are electing candidates based on lies, hidden truths or even just plain stupidity, are we really contributing to a healthy republic?
A recent attack ad on Missouri State Senator and attorney general candidate Kurt Schaefer only serves to prove this point. In the ad, Schaefer is attacked for allegedly helping the Chinese companies buy farmland in Missouri. Even if this is true, the portrayal in this advertisement is blatantly ignorant at best and xenophobic at worst.
This ad was run by a super PAC supporting the opposing candidate, not the candidate himself , but the core issue remains. This type of advertising is not helpful or informative to anyone. It plays on fears that shouldn’t even exist. Ideally, when viewing a political advertisement, we would receive truthful, informative information on the candidate’s campaign policies and promises.
Instead, we are subjected to childish, vitriolic attacks on opposing candidates, lies and grotesque fear-mongering.
This not only inundates viewers with senseless information, it also makes it harder for them to actually determine a candidate’s stance.
If this voter feels this way and does not have a place to turn for actual information on the candidate, imagine how easy it would be for that discouraged voter to simply abstain from participating on Election Day. Are we still contributing to a functional republic now?
In closing, I want to stress how important it is for us all to be alert and aware when watching campaign ads in the coming months. It seems to be getting harder and harder to find accurate information on candidates’ platforms.
Don’t let TV or online ads be your only source of information.
If you see an ad for a presidential candidate pop up on your screen, don’t necessarily take it at face value.
macwhitt@umail.iu.edu
