Eight reasons to hit 'mute' during TV ads by super PACs
First Iowa, now South Carolina, have seen the first wave of political TV ads from super PACs – mostly negative – that will smother the 2012 elections. Voters have an easy way to avoid such ads.
Stephen Colbert, center, and Jon Stewart, right, hold hands during The Colbert Report, as former federal election official Trevor Potter looks on. During the Jan. 12 episode, Colbert legally transferred his super political action committee to Stewart, his friend and Comedy Central cohort.
AP Photo/Comedy Central, Kristopher Long
Voters in South Carolina, like those in Iowa and New Hampshire, have been the first to experience a coming deluge of TV advertising nationwide from so-called super PACs in the 2012 election.
Skip to next paragraph-
Gallery: Monitor Political Cartoons
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
On South Carolina TV stations this week before Saturday’s primary, as many as 13 political ads are being run during any 30-minute span, with nearly half paid for by such groups.
By November, total spending by the special-interest political-action committees could exceed $1 billion, by some estimates, all with the aim to sway voters for or against candidates – most likely against.
TV viewers do have a choice of whether to listen to them. It’s called the mute button. (The function was first designed in 1950 by Zenith when the owner of the TV maker become fed up with commercials.) Here are eight reasons to use it:
1. You are not alone if you dislike super PACs.
Two-thirds of Americans who are aware of the groups’ emergence in politics say they will have a negative impact on elections, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Super PACs can spend unlimited amounts on behalf of a candidate.
Almost half of voters, however, have not heard of their existence. Super PACs sprang up after a 2010 Supreme Court ruling (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) that said institutions from corporations to unions have similar free-speech rights as people in campaigns – if super PACs are run independently of campaigns (a big if).
2. Many candidates themselves say they don’t like super PACs.
Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum deplore them, even as they rely on them. Mitt Romney wants them to “disappear,” despite one that helped him win in Iowa. President Obama launched his first ad of the 2012 campaign – in response to a super PAC ad. Jon Huntsman Jr. gave up his candidacy, saying “This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of our people.”
3. Wealthy contributors to super PACs will likely ask for special favors from a winning candidate.
These comments are not screened before publication. Constructive debate about the above story is welcome, but personal attacks are not. Please do not post comments that are commercial in nature or that violate any copyright[s]. Comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence will be removed. If you find a comment offensive, you may flag it.