Glad Ads are Ending Soon, and Visits

[Rich Riddle]

Not making this political at all, but being in Kentucky this election cycle makes me glad that in a few weeks the ads on the television will end. We already had two opposing sides in the senate election visit our home today. When asked for whom I was voting, I responded, "For the candidate who stops all ads and knocking on the door." The worker said, "We promise to stop Nov. 5."

[Brian Tymchak]

It hasn't been too bad here in central OH this time around. I guess it's probably due to a very one-sided gubernatorial race. We have had several visitors at the house although we've managed to be gone all those times.. yea!!

[David Weaver]

I haven't seen or heard much because I don't watch TV, I don't answer the door if I don't recognize the person and I don't have a landline phone. It's a great combination of things.

I don't even try to hide that I don't go to the door for people I don't recognize (I know everyone in the neighborhood more or less), if the screen door is open, I walk up and shut the entry door.

[Dave Anderson NH]

The ads are hot and heavy here in NH because we are a small state and one senate seat is up for grabs. The other lesser contests here are also showing huge amounts of money spent on attack ads. There is so much distortion, lies, half truths, and other sewage in these ads it is nauseating. It makes me think of a more current events type of modification of the old line, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics." New reality is, "there are lies, damn lies, and political ads."

You folks in the rest of the country are in for a treat and rest starting November 5th when the ads end. Here in NH it will slow for a while and then the yahoos will start the ads for the 2016 presidential election since we have the dubious horror of having the first in the nation primary. The potential candidates for 2016 have already started nosing around and are finding excuses to come and "visit" us. Would someone please take that first in the nation primary off our hands?

[Bill Edwards(2)]

Here in the shadow of Chicago, it's like watching war news.

Makes you start wishing they'd stand on a stump and yell:

"If elected, I promise to.............." and then lie through their teeth.

[Rich Riddle]

Well they must figure they are effective since all the folks running at the higher-level tier of offices run them on the radio and television. The mud-slinging gets tiring and doesn't make anyone look good.

[Larry Browning]

To me the saddest part is that 90% of the voters rely on these ads to decide who to vote for. Both sides put out misleading or just out and out lies about the other side. TV ads are the absolute worst place to get information about the candidates, yet that is what persuades us the most. No wonder our government is in the shape its in.

[Matt Meiser]

The visits thing is new to us. When we lived on a dirt road I guess they didn't want to get their cars dirty. The best was the flyer "For a greener Michigan" thrown on the ground by our door.

[John Pratt]

That's is what makes a DVR great; I just skip right past them. Just think only 19 more days and we start the election cycle for 2016. You think the ads are bad now.......

[Curt Harms]

Not making this political at all, but being in Kentucky this election cycle makes me glad that in a few weeks the ads on the television will end. We already had two opposing sides in the senate election visit our home today. When asked for whom I was voting, I responded, "For the candidate who stops all ads and knocking on the door." The worker said, "We promise to stop Nov. 5."

Perhaps there's something to be said for the actual candidate knocking on doors. It's an opportunity for them to hear what 'non-activists' think and have to say without it being filtered by staff or only attending 'town halls' attended by screeened audiences. Well, for those that can take the time from fund raising at least.

[David Weaver]

To me the saddest part is that 90% of the voters rely on these ads to decide who to vote for. Both sides put out misleading or just out and out lies about the other side. TV ads are the absolute worst place to get information about the candidates, yet that is what persuades us the most. No wonder our government is in the shape its in.

To a T, almost any ad that you fact check has a factual statement in it that doesn't make any sense in the context that it's used in the ad. that's the part that bothers me (well, there are a lot of statements that turn out to be false, but the ones that are true and intentionally made misleading are the ones that are the most devious to me).

Usually when you find out what the factual statement was and hear it in the context it was given, it seems entirely different and not as unreasonable. It reminds me of misleading headlines for news stories.

Just another reason that it's nice to turn everything off, and go to youtube with adblocker or here. That way I see no political ads.

The goofiest door visitor I've had in the last 8 years, before I just started closing the door on everyone, was the girl who told me about the crisis in PA where we are losing forested acres hand over fist to farmland and that I should sign a petition or we'd soon find ourselves with little or no undeveloped or unfarmed land ("the forests would be gone"). She had all kinds of glossy stuff to hand out about it, and she was very polite. The only trouble is that we don't have any such problem in PA - there are more acres forested here now than there were before the state was settled by europeans. I told her I wouldn't sign the petition because it was claiming a problem that doesn't exist. She then said that she would gladly take a donation for their cause if I didn't want to sign the petition (!).

Sometimes I wonder if the people who are going door to door with these petitions have any clue if there's any truth to them. Someone sets up a non-profit to draw money in and make an easy living, and they recruit young kids too go around to take money - that way they have an income and a "job" (the people who set up the non profit). Then kids put the canvassing on their resume as service work. Now that I live in the burbs, I see more of this than I did when I lived rural "in the trees". I guess going through a housing plan is an ideal place to get signatures, because most people there would have no clue about deforestation in the state.

[Rich Riddle]

A canvasser today asked who was getting my vote for Senate A quick response of "Ken Fitzgerald" produced a confused look on his face. Some folks just don't know the important folks in the world. Then I realized Ken doesn't live in Kentucky. Oh well, had had my vote anyway.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rich....I don't know what I did to anger you to the point you'd insult me like that? What ever I did, I apologize.....:confused::rolleyes:;)

[Rich Riddle]

Rich....I don't know what I did to anger you to the point you'd insult me like that? What ever I did, I apologize.....:confused::rolleyes:;)
Ken, no insult intended as you've always been a gentleman. I was just thinking that with your woodworking skills and gentle advice you give folks you would make a kind politician. We need a few of those representing us. Plus you could plug for some pro-woodworking legislation like tax write-offs for all these expensive tools. Perhaps some national woodworking holiday. You know, important items currently not addressed.

[John Coloccia]

Yet another reason to be thankful for not watching TV. I've more or less been insulated from all of this. I hear that my governor's race has gotten rather nasty, but I haven't seen any of it. This year, I've only had one person knock on my door so far. When I noticed his political ideology, I told him I'd vote for a bag of candy corn before I voted for him. That seemed to agitate him a bit, but closing the door quieted everything right back down.

Jackie Mason has a routine where he talks about how practically every food has now been found to cause some sort of ailment. "It's no longer a matter of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a disease you like." I think that sums up our contemporary political process.

[Moses Yoder]

I guess there is a thin line between discussing politics and discussing voting. How do you decide who to vote for? I am not asking who you are voting for, I am asking where you get the information to make a decision. THere are always judges on the ballot that I never heard of and other people. My parents never voted. It would be nice to have an unbiased website where I can see what my ballot will look like and then have information about what issues are important to the people that are running. Is there such a thing? I think this can be discussed without discussing politics, kind of hijacking a thread to avoid more political threads.

[Rich Riddle]

Moses,

You are correct. Here we vote for many offices like constable, judge, justices, attorneys, and judge-executives about whom you hear or know very little. It's difficult to even find who's on the ballot, until you arrive to vote. A couple of election cycles ago the local government put on a debate for the folks in lesser offices so voters could see who was running for office in each position. They starting introducing people in alphabetical order and one man failed to mention his office. He went on to discuss his conviction rate in court. When it came to to ask questions, I asked if he was running for city or county prosecutor. He indicated he was a sitting judge. When I asked why he thought conviction rate was a good indicator for a judge who is supposed to act impartially, he didn't have a good answer. It would have been a great point for a prosecutor. Here people in those offices can be elected with less than 100 votes. Some of them have enormous power. It's a shame few people know about them.

[Fred Belknap]

Rich love your humor:D

[Harry Hagan]

I guess there is a thin line between discussing politics and discussing voting. How do you decide who to vote for? I am not asking who you are voting for, I am asking where you get the information to make a decision. THere are always judges on the ballot that I never heard of and other people. My parents never voted. It would be nice to have an unbiased website where I can see what my ballot will look like and then have information about what issues are important to the people that are running. Is there such a thing? I think this can be discussed without discussing politics, kind of hijacking a thread to avoid more political threads.

I’m an advocate of voting—but only if it’s an informed vote. I stopped taking the local paper years ago because it is way too biased and therefore not a reliable source for researching candidates. I’ve already downloaded my “Sample Ballots” from the local Election Center and will start my voter research on the internet this week.

If my research doesn’t turn up any credible information on a candidate, they won’t get my vote just because their name is listed on a ballot. In fact, for years I haven’t voted for anyone—just the lesser of evils.:(

[Jim Koepke]

Living in Southwest Washington State has an advantage. Almost all of our 'local' TV is from Portland, Oregon. We record most programs so we can fast forward though commercials. Besides, the ads for political causes are usually Oregon politics and usually don't apply to us.

We do not leave our property often. So our driveway is usually covered with leaves this time of year and looks like it goes nowhere. The avatar by my name above shows the more used section of unpaved road that turns off of our drive. Being this far off the road has some advantages.

jtk

[Phil Thien]

I'm watching the Packers game and I don't think I've seen any political ads. Are the spots too expensive during NFL games?

[Rich Riddle]

Well some states don't have contentious races this year; many are in the bag one way or another.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Phil, I'll bet that the ads during games are far too expensive and that the PACs and candidates campaign committees have made the decision that the same money buys 2-6 (who knows?) times as many ads at other times. I suspect, but don't know, that the time allocated to local ads during major sports events is limited by the networks so that national advertisers reach the largest audiences possible. Who wants to pay the network for a national ad for a NH candidate?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I DVR most of what I watch so I fast forward through most commercials, which includes political adds. Now that you mention it though, I have not been inundated with phone calls this time around.

I already voted absentee, so advertising would be wasted on me even if it were persuasive.

[Pat Barry]

I'm from Minnesota and the ads are non-stop. I am curious if anyone has ever seen an ad for Stewart Mills III where he actually appears and says anything about himself or his agenda. All we get from him is negative ads about his opponent. Alll I know about him is that he is rich, has a big fancy yacht, has long hair that he continually pulls behind his ears, and he appears to be relatively wet behind those same ears.

[John Goodin]

One of the benefits of living in a one party state is not that there is not much in the way of ads. My father lives in Florida and gets blasted non stop every two years.