ROANOKE, VA – You may get an ad in the mail and toss it in the trash without giving it a second look, but during the redistricting election, mail ads have been flooding mailboxes, all intending to do the same thing: get your vote.
But you need to be careful, because not all ads are what they seem.
“It’s not President Trump, and it’s not Republican figures on here, it’s Democratic figures,” Virginia Tech Political Analyst and professor of Public Relations, Dr. Cayce Myers, said.
One mailer in particular is raising eyebrows, featuring former President Barack Obama.
At first glance, it appears he’s encouraging voters to vote “no,” but Myers says that’s not the full picture.
“It makes it seem like Obama’s position on this particular referendum is no, when it in fact is yes,” Myers said.
The mailer uses an image from a video ad by Virginians for Fair Elections, where he says to vote yes, but Obama’s real message isn’t what’s portrayed in the mailer.
It also pulls from a 2020 X post by Obama, where he says, “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government.”
“On the front side, you have a comment from 2020, that is not about Virginia redistricting. This is not new to politics, taking someone’s previous statements and then using them against them in a political context later on,” Myers said.
These tactics aren’t one-sided.
In February, a billboard featuring President Donald Trump appeared in Page County.
It includes a quote reading, “Take over the voting,” alongside a message urging people to vote yes.
“This is a strategy we’re going to see continue because we live in this space where everything is hyperpartisan and very polarized,” Myers said.
The billboard was put up by the Page County Democratic Committee, which says they’ve received threats over it.
Committee Chair Miles Morimoto tells us, “There is no misrepresentation, plus we feel that voters are smart enough to recognize and interpret the messages and draw their own conclusions.”
As for the mailers, those are sent out by the Justice for Democracy PAC, chaired by former Republican delegate A.C. Cordoza.
He tells us, “The quotes used by Barack Obama are accurate. It’s how he felt when his position advantaged him, now that the shoe is on the other foot, he has changed his mind.”
Myers says these kinds of advertisements - while targeting voters from the opposite party - could backfire.
“If you’re a Republican and you see this ad with Obama telling you to vote no, maybe you’re inclined to vote yes,” Myers said.
He says it all comes down to doing your own research.
“Making a decision from a fully informed standpoint,” he said.