Election Retrospective: Attack Ads Work

Citing research by The Wesleyan Media Project, syndicated columnist Roger Simon writing in The Asheville Citizen Times says the reason we all saw so many attack ads in the last election cycle is simple: they work. Simon also cited Erika Franklin Fowler, assistant professor of government and director of the Wesleyan Media Project, who said: “More than half of all ads are pure attack ads. Attack ads have steadily increased since the 2004 election, and the 2010 House and Senate advertising is the most negative in the past decade.”