Contrasts in Presidential Campaign Commercials of 2004

This article examines television advertising used during the 2004 presidential campaign. Based on interviews with the advertising creators and coordinators and on repeated viewings by the author and his graduate and undergraduate students, it describes, analyzes, and evaluates the ads. The study reveals massive spending totaling $620 million—a 235% increase over 2000. Kerry, his party, and 527 groups supporting his candidacy outspent Bush, his party, and his 527 groups $358 million to $262 million. Kerry had double the Bush ads, mainly because of state-specific ad placement. Kerry stayed positive early and ended with more positive ads, whereas his 527s took up the negative attack against Bush. Bush ran the most negative campaign in presidential history. 527 group ads played a significant role in the campaign, both early and late in the campaign. These ads hurt both Kerry and Bush early and aided Bush in the closing days of the campaign.