Political Ads

[Stan]

I heard an ad yesterday on the radio and can't recall who it was on the Iowa side, but it was all about how he's radical left extremist and then they went all in on the talking points that scare those small town folk into continuously voting for the right. At this point, can we just agree that those aren't real problems we need to be facing and that our current administration has taken far too many steps to set our country on a downward trend that will last for multiple more future administrations? Transgender athletes are the least of my worries. I'm much more concerned about rising fuel prices caused by an unnecessary conflict that will cause food prices to increase even more than they already have. I'm worried that my kids futures are being taken away even more so than mine is. I might get a pat on the back when I qualify for social security, but all they'll get is a swift kick to the nuts.

[Louie]

I heard an ad yesterday on the radio and can't recall who it was on the Iowa side, but it was all about how he's radical left extremist and then they went all in on the talking points that scare those small town folk into continuously voting for the right. At this point, can we just agree that those aren't real problems we need to be facing and that our current administration has taken far too many steps to set our country on a downward trend that will last for multiple more future administrations? Transgender athletes are the least of my worries. I'm much more concerned about rising fuel prices caused by an unnecessary conflict that will cause food prices to increase even more than they already have. I'm worried that my kids futures are being taken away even more so than mine is. I might get a pat on the back when I qualify for social security, but all they'll get is a swift kick to the nuts.

Was that the anti-Josh Turek ad? I feel like I get that one served to me a lot.

[ThreeGGG]

in this day and age, i can't believe ANYONE and i mean ANYONE doesn't think that there isn't some way to be recorded. Never say anything to anyone that you'd be ashamed for someone to hear.

Indeed! Osborne is proving he is not a seasoned politician by making these rookie mistakes. I’ll let others decide whether this is an admirable trait or not.

agreed. Honestly, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum (not YOU but "ya") at least have the courage to stand by your convictions. I don't fault republicans for wanting to keep their second amendment right the same as i don't fault democrats for wanting women to have the right to autonomy over their bodies. What i CANNOT stand is when people flip flop for the sake of votes. People feel how they feel, and diversity of thought is what makes us great. Where we lose it is when we don't work together to solve many of the same problems we all see with different eyes because we can't figure out which way to get to the same solution we want. And politicians feed off of 'winning' rather than 'solving'

Well said.

[riceweb]

[some issue] are the least of my worries.

People say things like this but then never concede these issues and will in fact often double down on them. Which is pretty revealing. If an issue was really a nothingburger, then they wouldn't mind conceding these issues.

[BRoss]

[some issue] are the least of my worries.

People say things like this but then never concede these issues and will in fact often double down on them. Which is pretty revealing. If an issue was really a nothingburger, then they wouldn't mind conceding these issues.

I think this is an interesting perspective that demonstrates how some people view issues as black and white. That if you are not against something, you are for it.

But the issue is many view a lot of things in a more neutral or gray way. And when for example the question is whether to ban something, they find that ridiculous or extremist. So yeah, they aren't going to concede and let what they view as alarmism, exaggerations, or hate chip away at things such as others' rights despite it being a topic they for the most part don't care about or are not strongly for. It's not weird or hypocritical to just simply not be against something.

What I do find weird however is how some feel the need to continuously harp on topics that don't actually affect them in any way.

[remline]

What I do find weird however is how some feel the need to continuously harp on topics that don't actually affect them in any way.

Some issues that do not have a direct impact on a particular individual may have an impact on other parts of society. It seems good and proper for an individual to show concern for other parts of society.

[BRoss]

What I do find weird however is how some feel the need to continuously harp on topics that don't actually affect them in any way.

Some issues that do not have a direct impact on a particular individual may have an impact on other parts of society. It seems good and proper for an individual to show concern for other parts of society.

Sure, but there's a fine line between concern and obsession and that was my point.

[ThreeGGG]

The attack ads have become RIDICULOUS. A lot of false narrative and outright LIES.

[Stan]

What I do find weird however is how some feel the need to continuously harp on topics that don't actually affect them in any way.

Some issues that do not have a direct impact on a particular individual may have an impact on other parts of society. It seems good and proper for an individual to show concern for other parts of society.

Sure, but there's a fine line between concern and obsession and that was my point.

Concerned for women's rights to choose over obsessing for an absolute ban on abortion.
Concerned for the well-being of illegal immigrants coming here for a better life over obsessing about anyone coming over the border.

At least I'm glad that for now same-sex marriage is moving up in favor of the masses so we can stop making it a big deal. Previously I would say I was concerned for family members being able to have the same benefits as others in marriage rather than those obsessed with the "sanctity" of marriage.

[ThreeGGG]

We need much stricter and enforced rules and regulations on campaign advertising,..... because what we have now is absolutely ridiculous. Most political ads don't tell us anything about the actual candidate that the ad is presumably promoting.

[bbinks]

We need much stricter and enforced rules and regulations on campaign advertising,..... because what we have now is absolutely ridiculous. Most political ads don't tell us anything about the actual candidate that the ad is presumably promoting.

Those who would need to implement this are the same group of people who need to implement term limits.

[Brad]

We need much stricter and enforced rules and regulations on campaign advertising,..... because what we have now is absolutely ridiculous. Most political ads don't tell us anything about the actual candidate that the ad is presumably promoting.

Those who would need to implement this are the same group of people who need to implement term limits.

I agree with both statements.

My ideal scenario would be:
1. Political adds can only talk about yourself and nobody else.
2. Only 2 terms for both Congress and Senate
3. Congress and Senate must be between the age of 30 & 60 Younger people haven't experienced the real world enough, and older people need to live with their decisions before they pass away.

[ThreeGGG]

Thank you. Brad.

[Linkin5]

We need much stricter and enforced rules and regulations on campaign advertising,..... because what we have now is absolutely ridiculous. Most political ads don't tell us anything about the actual candidate that the ad is presumably promoting.

Those who would need to implement this are the same group of people who need to implement term limits.

I agree with both statements.

My ideal scenario would be:
1. Political adds can only talk about yourself and nobody else.
2. Only 2 terms for both Congress and Senate
3. Congress and Senate must be between the age of 30 & 60 Younger people haven't experienced the real world enough, and older people need to live with their decisions before they pass away.

There are so many things that need to be reformed. There was an anti Thomas Massie deepfake ad showing him holding hands with AOC and Ilhan Omar which many older people were unable to decipher as fake.

The Supreme Court case Citizens United is really what poured gasoline on all of this. Equating money to free speech has been a disaster for all of us and made our pay to play government innumerably worse. Until we eliminate Super PACs and donations made by shell companies none of this will be solved.

Oh and also ban stock trading entirely for politicians and their immediate family. Outside of index funds they shouldn’t be able to invest in anything while in office. Low level private workers are held to a higher standard for stock trading than our elected politicians.

[Garrett]

We need much stricter and enforced rules and regulations on campaign advertising,..... because what we have now is absolutely ridiculous. Most political ads don't tell us anything about the actual candidate that the ad is presumably promoting.

Those who would need to implement this are the same group of people who need to implement term limits.

I agree with both statements.

My ideal scenario would be:
1. Political adds can only talk about yourself and nobody else.
2. Only 2 terms for both Congress and Senate
3. Congress and Senate must be between the age of 30 & 60 Younger people haven't experienced the real world enough, and older people need to live with their decisions before they pass away.

1. Probably would have a hard time with free speech tests. Attack ads, as annoying as they are, are shown to me one of the most effective forms of advertisement. Reinstituting campaign contribution/financing limits and getting dark money out of politics would be better at tamping down on the flood of ads and making them more focused.

2. I do think there should be term limits but they should be longer. Being an effective politician is a skill and a job like any other that takes time to learn and acquire institutional knowledge. Most congress members are fairly ineffective for their first term as they learn the ropes, so limiting them to just 4 years would end up shifting a significant amount of power to the executive branch, congressional aides, and ironically lobbyists. I think one could pretty easily argue that the Nebraska legislature has only ended up worse with term limits.



3. Maybe some tweaks to the brackets but I think age limits are far better than term limits

[riceweb]

It’s not just the PACs, there’s a global information war for control of US politics. There’s Turkish, German, Israeli, etc. it’s everything, everywhere, all at once: https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world ... per-report as an example of just the known/disclosed ones, but there are lots of undisclosed scenarios, too.

I’m not really sure where or how you control this because even many influencers are on the payrolls, without any disclosures.

[ThreeGGG]

Allowing all of the attack ads is why we are where we are today.

[Brad]

As someone with young kids, these horrible adds make it really hard to watch football with my kids. The best thing I have figured out to this point, I have the TV on the 4-Box on YouTube TV where you are watching 4 games at once. You can quickly flip the sound from game to game as the commercials pop up.

[Big E]

But Brad, how will your kids know they are in constant danger of being antifa'd by socialist liberal anti-American communist transgender immigrant murderer rapists if they dont watch those ads? They must be vigilant! $5 gas be damned!

[Original]

I only lurk and so probably shouldn't post in a political topic, but seeing people talk about term limits forces me to fill up the infinitely scrolling white text box.

I think about term limits basically along the lines of what Garrett posted in that it shifts power away from the elected officials and into the hands of unknown staffers etc. However, there is something about incumbency and name recognition that also has negative consequences where self-interested or ineffective legislators can occupy their office for far too long because of the connections and patronage that accumulates. Just think about how much churn you have at a job if you are constantly bringing in new managers from sort-if-but-not-entirely-related industries every few years.

I think a number of the current problems in the ineffectiveness of government have to do with the primary system where 14 and 17 million primary voters selected Biden and Trump respectively in 2024, and 74 and 77 voted for Harris and Trump respectively in the general election. The current primary system and media environment largely rewards demagogues for getting the engaged base to vote, and then the less engaged and/or more independent people shake their heads at the candidates in the general. If we had *more* parties and/or we had *ranked choice open primaries* (top 4 move on to general regardless of party affiliation), we could probably trade our current problems for a set we don't yet fully understand but seems like it would better represent our diverse country.

My suggestion (which won't get implemented short of a significant reform in our electoral system) is an increasing barrier incumbents have to cross to get re-elected. So a senator who has served two terms would have to get 55% of the vote, and a representative who has served 4 terms has to get 55%, ratcheting 5% every election. If someone is effective for their district, great, they'll keep getting votes. There are certainly disadvantages to this system as well, but I think it would do a little bit better job of keeping elected officials focused.

The problems to me feel more about structural power accumulation than about individual power accumulation, and figuring out structures that inherently dismantle power seems like the right choice for the US in 2026.

[S.O.Boy]

These campaign ads makes me jealous of Canada' campaign cycle. "The election or campaign period must be at least 37 days and no more than 51 days, and election day must fall on a Monday, with certain limited exceptions."

https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?s ... dex&lang=e

[thenewguy]

As someone with young kids, these horrible adds make it really hard to watch football with my kids. The best thing I have figured out to this point, I have the TV on the 4-Box on YouTube TV where you are watching 4 games at once. You can quickly flip the sound from game to game as the commercials pop up.

Agree. My oldest two are getting wiser to the games they all play, asking 'which one is right if they are both accusing the other of the same stuff?' and therein lies the key: they are ALL full of |expletive|. Truth be told, there are middle-of-the-road people that i think would do a good job on both sides of the aisle, but they have a snowball's chance in heck of getting elected because they just aren't polarizing enough. The state of politics in this country is a joke and has been for years.

[S.O.Boy]

As someone with young kids, these horrible adds make it really hard to watch football with my kids. The best thing I have figured out to this point, I have the TV on the 4-Box on YouTube TV where you are watching 4 games at once. You can quickly flip the sound from game to game as the commercials pop up.

Agree. My oldest two are getting wiser to the games they all play, asking 'which one is right if they are both accusing the other of the same stuff?' and therein lies the key: they are ALL full of |expletive|. Truth be told, there are middle-of-the-road people that i think would do a good job on both sides of the aisle, but they have a snowball's chance in heck of getting elected because they just aren't polarizing enough. The state of politics in this country is a joke and has been for years.

I have been pausing and then skipping past them.