How do you react to negative ads or mailers? (Undecided voters)

[Anonymous]

I'll ask this question in survey form. This is not a question about Hogan vs. Jealous or Comstock vs. Wexton or Floreen vs. Elrich or any other local election.

If you are an undecided voter or tend to pay less attention to midterm elections, what is your general reaction to negative campaigning, be it Facebook ads, cable ads, mailers, and the like?
Which apply to you?

A. I ignore them.
B. I research the claims.
C. I tend to believe the negative ads.
D. They have the reverse effect; I tend to favor the candidate who runs a more positive campaign.
E. I am not entirely an undecided voter; I tend to believe the claims made from the party I am more inclined to support.
F. I am not entirely an undecided voter, but negative ads from someone I may be inclined to support can turn me off.
G. I am not enitrely an undecided voter, and negative ads from someone I may be inclined to support can reaffirm my vote.
H. Other reaction?

[Anonymous]

I research them. Most of the time they ignore nuances. That usually annoys me. But in the end, I vote my values.

[Anonymous]

D. I favor the candidate who runs a more positive campaign.

The black and white ads with ominous music and cherry-picked facts spoken by a Barry White impersonator are entertaining, but totally ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Mostly A with a side of F.

[Anonymous]

A. I don't pay any attention whatsoever. I watch Netflix, not local TV. I research right before an election and make my decision then.

[Anonymous]

F

[Anonymous]

I would say F, because the really negative ads also tend to be stretching the truth and I can't get behind that.

[Anonymous]

People always state that they hate negative ads, but they are incredibly effective. They help to solidify initial inclinations among swing voters. A negative ad against Jealous will solidify the support of an independent that was initially softly leaning toward Hogan. Negative ads reinforce your gut instinct and are made to nudge otherwise swing voters over the line, one way or the other. In addition, negative ads make strong supporters of a candidate more strongly convinced of their decision.

Negative ads act as a bulwark, helping to prevent defection to the "other side."

[Anonymous]

B and D. In the primaries I planned to vote for the incumbent, but switched to vote for a challenger (in part because I knew that person wouldn't win) because the incumbent ran such a dirty, negative campaign.

[Anonymous]

C. I tend to believe the negative ads.
D. They have the reverse effect; I tend to favor the candidate who runs a more positive campaign.

Sort of D but swap "positive" for "best". If you run a negative campaign, you better make sure that it is 100% truth. Not technically true, but 100 perfect factually true.

[Anonymous]

I throw all mailers out without reading them.

[Anonymous]

Whoops didn't mean to include C when copying and pasting!

Anonymous wrote:
D. They have the reverse effect; I tend to favor the candidate who runs a more positive campaign.

Sort of D but swap "positive" for "best". If you run a negative campaign, you better make sure that it is 100% truth. Not technically true, but 100 perfect factually true.

[Anonymous]

I tear all of the political postcards up and throw them away without reading. Will research basic stances of candidates just before voting.

[Anonymous]

I throw away every flyer. I fast forward through every commercial. I do my own research.

[Anonymous]

All the Elrich and Floreen ads I've gotten in the mail this week are from PACs, not directly from the candidates.