Political Ads of Yesteryear: Part One

Lyndon Johnson's 1964 "Daisy" Commercial. Aired only once due to the controversy it caused.   

When I was college student at Ball State, I took a class on Campaigns (one of my degrees is in Political Science, so I assure you, dear reader, it really wasn't out of some twisted, sadistic desire for self-torture). It was also an elective for my degree, and I happened to like the topic.

We are right smack in the middle of a particularly contentious election cycle, and political commercials right now are as common as road apples at a horse track. And about as hard to avoid. (Side-note: my wife commented, "and they smell about as good.") But I digress.

Perhaps some will find this strange, but I love politics. And I especially enjoy following campaigns. There is something fascinating about the marketplace of ideas. Candidates need to explain what they stand for, and how they are different than their opponent.

Most folks are put off by negative political ads. They call it 'mudslinging' and are offended by it. Others argue negative ads are not effective. However, negative ads do work. Research shows that people tend to pay attention whether they want to acknowledge it or not. And negative ads tend to pique interest, and motivates some to find out more about the issue. If, at the end of the day, negative political ads cause the average citizen to show up at the voting booth better educated than before, perhaps that isn't so bad after all?

Thanks to the wonderful word of the Internet (which was created by a past Presidential candidate as I recall), there some web sites that have archived Presidential Campaign Ads going back several decades.

Here are some of the more popular ones.....




































And one of my all time favorites.

Reagan's "It's Morning Again in America." 1984

































Note: These ads are found at http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1972 . A great webpage with several video footage of campaign ads!

Part Two will be have some more campaign videos, and even some debates. Hope you enjoy!!