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2012 ElectionsBlogReleasesYear-End Summaries

2012 Election Studies Published

2012 Campaign Advertising Volume Crushed Previous Records; Interest Group and Dark Money Analyses in the Works (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Feb. 14, 2013 – Two comprehensive studies of the campaign ad trends from the 2012 election have been published by the researchers from the Wesleyan Media Project. “Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in 2012” by Erika Franklin Fowler of Wesleyan University and Travis N. Ridout of Washington State University, and “Interest Groups in Electoral Politics: 2012 in Context” by Michael Franz of Bowdoin College, appear in the most recent issue of The Forum, a Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics.…
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February 14, 2013
2012 ElectionsReleases

Presidential Ad War Tops 1M Airings

Pro-Romney Ads Cut into Obama Advantage in Last Week of Oct; Obama campaign outspends Romney campaign 2.6:1 on ads in the general election period; Republican outside groups make up the difference for Romney (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Nov. 2, 2012 – As the 2012 campaign comes to a close, the number of ads aired in the presidential general election passed the one million mark last week.  As of October 29, the two candidates, their party committees, and supporting interest groups had sponsored 1,015,615 ads since June 1, a 39.1% increase over 2008 (730,041) and a 41% increase over 2004 (720,064), during the…
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November 2, 2012
2012 ElectionsReleases

2012 Shatters 2004 and 2008 Records for Total Ads Aired

Over 900,000 Ads Aired in Presidential General Election Race; Over 210,000 Ads since October 1; President Continues to Hold Ad Advantage in Key Markets; Independent Groups and Obama Campaign Most Likely to Use Pure Attack Ads (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Oct. 24, 2012 – Over 915,000 presidential ads have been aired on broadcast and national cable television since June 1.  This is a 44.5 percent increase from the 637,000 ads aired through October 21 in 2008 and a 43.7 percent increase from the 634,000 ads aired through October 21 in 2004.  See Figure 1. (more…)
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October 24, 2012
2012 ElectionsReleases

Obama Dominates Advertising in Key States

President Holds Advantage in 14 of 15 Top Markets; Only 7.8 Percent of Presidential Ads Positive; FCC electronic disclosure leaves out more than 50% of federal ads (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Oct. 3, 2012 – In the three-week period since the parties’ national conventions, Barack Obama and his party and interest group allies have continued to dominate the airwaves in the battleground presidential states. From September 9 to September 30, Obama held an ad advantage in 14 of the 15 most advertised media markets in the key states of Virginia, Ohio, and Florida (Table 1). In the top 15 markets, pro-Romney advertising…
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October 3, 2012