Voters turned off by negative ads in 3rd District race

by Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

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Story Created: Oct 30, 2008 at 4:00 PM EST

Story Updated: Nov 3, 2008 at 11:49 PM EST

GOSHEN — With Election Day less than a week away, more and more political ads are on TV. From the presidential race to local races, many of those political ads are negative.

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That includes the 3rd District congressional race between incumbent Republican Mark Souder and Democratic challenger Mike Montagano.

Voters say candidates just need to stick to the issues.

In the heart of downtown Goshen, Scott's Barbershop has been a hot-bed of political conversation in Indiana's 3rd Congressional District for the last several weeks. Many of the customers and voters have been watching the campaign and don't like what they see.

"I'm discouraged," said Robert Reese of Goshen. "I'm confused with the negative ads. I want to hear what they want to do for us. And I'm hoping they'll change."

"I don't like negative campaigning," added barbershop owner Paul Scott. "Mr. Souder really isn't flamboyant. He doesn't have to be on the news every day to do a good job."

Other residents agreed. They said whether it's negative campaigning in print or TV ads — for the 3rd Congressional District or any other race — they tend to tune it out. Or turn it off.

"In negative ads I just get up and walk away or I just close my eyes and ears and everything. I like to hear about the issues, instead of what the opponent did way back when," said Joyce Heffner of Goshen.

"Well, I tend to think the negative ads might persuade some indecisive voters," said Brad Bossler of Middlebury. "For those that have kind of made up their mind, they kind of shut 'em off and they’re counter productive. I just kind of shut out the ads. They're really not effective for me."

The effectiveness of negative political ads has long been debated. But studies have shown negative ads sometimes have more influence on younger voters.

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