Cigarette ads were banned because of their potential to cause harm. What about political commercials?

"Because of my belief that the media should inform, but not tell us how to vote, I think there shouldn't be political commercials. . . .Sometimes the commercials don't tell the whole truth or (they) create a false impression of the candidate." MN

"Campaign commercials are yet another dilemma. They have been the biggest budget item in presidential campaigns since 1928. They (campaign commercials) offer no issues, no substance, and often, no mercy. . . . Political consultants have concluded that negative ads have more impact than positive ones, which may be true, but these ads do nothing but trivialize the political process. Then when the mud starts flying, the public is hurt. . . they do not know whose charges to believe." KS

"The 30-second campaign commercials do not tell us about a candidate, but rather they tell us how we have answered the polls. Furthermore, the news networks are dependent on their sponsors like most of what is seen on TV. The networks are businesses, and the candidates whose campaign commercials are aired on the networks are their customers. We cannot expect the network news to comment on the validity of these commercials for the commercials provide their income.

In elections for smaller offices the campaign commercials are not as easily accessible to all the candidates. The multimillionaire Democrats and the corporate-sponsored Republicans have the money and sources for money to afford the campaign cofmmercials. The other candidates must depend on the special interest groups for contributions, and those groups are mainly interested in the candidate poll standings." KY

"The 'truth squads' employed by CNN and by many newspapers probably do provide a service by testing the ads for truth, but they also give the candidates free air time by showing and talking about the ads themselves. Let the sponsors pay for the showing of their ads." AR

"One false move can ruin opportunities. John Lindsey found out the hard way. In the 1972 presidential campaign, he chose to run a 30-minute advertisement in Florida that gave his position for gun conrol, for abortion, and against school prayer. This caused him to lose a great deal of support in Florida. This incident proves that media changes public opinion." SD

"Candidate spend the most money on commercials. If a choice is given they would prefer to appear on the nightly news. Appearing on the news is not only free, but voters seem to take them more seriously. Candidates try to fully promote their ideas and images in their commercials. In this day and age, voters do not have the time to sit and read the newspaper or listen to a complete speech of a candidate so these commercials . . . help provide recognition. Candidates are now using negative campaigning as well. They are making negative commercials and saying negative things about each other." FL

"The impact of a candidate talking about himself is not as great as the impact of a respected newsman or a dignified reporter talking of the same candidate." OH

"On television, networks allow commercials to be aired that degrade the other candidate. I believe these networks should not allow such commercials to be aired." PA

". . . in Oklahoma . . . a certain democratic candidate. . .was vying for national office. He was at least keeping up with his competitor until commercials aired showing his face and then a huge phrase over it calling him 'THE TAX MAN.' These commercials concentrated solely on directly relating the name and face of (the candidate) to the words 'THE TAX MAN.' The voters were apparently affected by these, for (he) lost by a landslide." OK

"Commercials are full of campaign promises and accusations (toward) the other candidates. These commercials don't in any way help the voter make an informed choice. . . If a person knew nothing about the issues, he or she (might be) more likely to vote for the candidate he or she has seen in a commercial." WI

"One must also realize that the candidates are not passive objects of the media's attention. The competitors with wealthier supporters are able to pay large sums of money to gain air time used for running short commercials promoting themselves and/or slandering opponents. . . .Towards the end of (Bruce Herchensohn's) campaign, his opponent was able to exhibit many commercials aimed at attacking his views and character. This type of media influence was most probably a deciding factor in his loss . . . How is this powerful form of mind-influence controlled? The sad truth is, it is not. Often whichever candidate has more money is able to defeat an opponent by buying air time and broadcasting exaggerations or even lies about his adversary." CA

". . . I would just as soon not see any commercials on the candidates because they are so boring and uninteresting anyway. . ." SD

"Another reason voters in rural areas are not finding out about the candidates is that the Senate candidates have been running advertisements in Chicago for approximately three months, but only approximately three or four weeks in the Central/Southern Illinois area. At the conclusion of this political campaign, whoever is elected, I hope they remember that there is a Central/Southern Illinois and not just a Chicago and will listen to the concerns of the voters in this area." IL

"George Bush used negative ads about Arkansas during Clinton's tenure as governor. Bill Clinton alluded to Bush's promise of 'no new taxes,' but Mr. Bush made a very high tax increase once in office. Ross Perot had his ads directed to the poor shape of our nation's economy. An article entitled Can Democracy Survive the Media in the 1990s? says that most negative ads are 'misleading or at least exaggerated and, in some cases, right on the edge of what is factual.'" OH

"CNN refused to air a Bush ad because it focused on putting down Clinton instead of dealing with Bush. Time magazine also fought against unfair ads. They got a court order to stop the commercial that used a Time magazine cover to attack the credibility of Bill Clinton. . . . Also, CBS Evening News refused to air a commercial that was shorter than 30 seconds." NY

"(Clinton's) television commercials dealt with things most Americans could easily relate to." AR

"Even though television commercials are a great way for the candidates to campaign and show people who they are and what they stand for, these same commercials hide a lot of truth. . . . Of course the candidate is going to say just what the people want to hear in order to get elected. . . The media can make people believe almost anything. . ." NY

"I know the candidates are to blame for these negative ads, but if they can't stop cutting each other down on their own, the media could censor the ads that contain negative connotations, not necessarily cutting them from production, but trying to convince the candidates to change their ads so that they present each candidate's honorable traits. The large number of these ads could also be lessened if we would all exercise our right to petition and write letters to the nominees concerning this issue." MO

"Ross Perot could afford to have half-hour commercials that were aired during prime time television slots. I don't feel that Perot should have been forbidden to air these commercials, but his commercials were aired during the best time slots, and without money it would not be possible to purchase these particular time slots. That was fair, yet in a way, it wasn't." OH

"In the 1992 election, there was even a commercial that promised viewers the opportunity to hear 'Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers talking dirty,' or hear Dan Quayle spell potato with an 'e'. NY

"Continually rebroadcasting campaign ads is more like replaying a bad boxing match --- with lots of negative rhetoric and attempted knockout punches." IN

"Viewers generally remember stories from commercials, rather than television news." OR