April 21 is Election Day in Virginia, and as the calendar gets closer and closer to that day, political advertisers on both sides are ramping up their efforts to get people to the polls.
However, voters have noticed that some ads are becoming much nastier in tone.
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“It’s pretty clear to me the ads for yes seem to be positive, seem to be brighter,” Tom Bailey said. “The ads for now seem to be pretty dark and distrusting.”
10 News spoke with Dr. Chapman Rackaway, a professor and Chair of Political Science at Radford University, about the uptick in television ads.
He said that the main goal is to drive people to the polls.
“They’re trying to mobilize their side,” Dr. Chapman said. “Usually the only way that you do that, especially when you’re talking about ads, is by stoking fear in people.”
It’s those fear tactics that political advertisers use to try to hammer their point across.
“You’ll see the pro-redistricting side talking about MAGA and President Trump and them trying to engage in a power play,” Dr. Chapman said. “Then you see the vote no side, and they’re saying that this is a liberal overreach on the part of the trifecta government in Richmond.”
Buzzwords in bold letters jump off the screen while political opponents are put in black and white to appear more menacing.
Dr. Rackaway says that people have shorter attention spans, so it’s better for advertisers to bombard viewers with messages, especially as we get closer to voting day.
Because if people take the hint, they’ll go out to the polls… while others may get cold feet.
“You try to build up as many of your voters as you can, you try to discourage as many as the opposing voters as you can and then on election day you hope that that’s what comes through,” Dr. Rackaway said.
Dr. Rackaway also said that nearly $80 million was spent on ad campaigns between both sides.