Seth Stevenson subjected himself to 45 hours of Ohio TV advertising, which at this point largely consists of campaign ads:
Something happens when you’ve been exposed to the same short video clip 21 times; your mind untethers, shifting its focus from the script to the symbols. I began to dissect Romney’s body language. Why, I wondered, was this spot so intent on establishing a side-by-side spatial relationship between Mitt and the viewer? Mitt chauffeurs us, gripping the wheel, looking at the road, throwing sidelong glances as he lists his accomplishments. “Aha,” I exclaimed: a classically male, shoulder-to-shoulder, barstool conversational alignment—in tune with Romney’s big advantage among male voters. By contrast, President Obama is usually gazing directly into the camera lens, locking in eye contact as though he and the viewer are on a promising first date.
Relatedly, a reader in Colorado reacts to Romney’s big post-convention ad buy:
As a resident of Denver, I’ve been experiencing the avalanche for many months. It’s worst from 4-6 during local news and national network news, when we routinely get 4, 5, 6 back-to-back ads at every commercial break. One or two will be from Obama, with the rest from Romney and his super-PACs. Like many others here, I jut hit the mute button when they start. I hear friends joke that they now watch everything via DVR, so they can fast-forward through the commercials.
I loathe and fear Citizens United as much as anybody, but I do believe there is a law of diminishing returns with the onslaught of ads.
I lived in California in 2010 when a flood of outside money and money from wealthy candidates blanketed TV for months supporting the Republican statewide candidates, especially Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. It was as relentless as the Romney avalanche is now. Yet the Democrats won every statewide office, largely, I believe, because the Republican “brand” is so toxic in California.
The Obama campaign has blanketed Colorado with field offices and young, energetic organizers who are busy canvassing, registering voters and getting the word out with friends and neighbors. My only complaint is that they stopped airing a very effective response to the welfare-work lies, and I hope that ad reappears soon. The election will be close, but I’m confident Colorado will stay blue this fall.
via The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/09/ad-overdose.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+andrewsullivan%2FrApM+%28The+Daily+Dish%29