COLORADO, USA — Yes, negative political ads work.
NEXT Viewers Stan and Gabriel emailed asking about the negative political ads that are airing daily until Election Day.
"Do these ads really have an effect?" Stan asked.
"I have never met anyone that has stated that they are swayed by political ads or mailers," Gabriel wrote.
"If you want to prevent people from or slow somebody's momentum, and you're in a campaign, a negative ad can do that," David Flaherty, pollster with conservative-leaning Magellan Strategies, said. "People don't like to admit that."
Flaherty previously worked at the Republican National Committee, where he helped test negative ads before they were finalized.
"We did find that negative ads were helpful in changing voter opinion towards a candidate," Flaherty said.
The National Republican Congressional Committee and 8th Congressional District Republican candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer have produced two ads with a unique touch.
The ads include images of Democratic House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Biden before showing Kirkmeyer's opponent, Democratic candidate Yadira Caraveo.
"They know that Nancy Pelosi's image rating is not very good, obviously, in the state or AOC's, and there's ample research around that. Perhaps where AOC and her policies are, perhaps too liberal for many middle voters in the 8th Congressional District," Flaherty said.
There is similar imagery in an ad paid for by Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet that attacks his opponent, Republican candidate Joe O'Dea.
"Joe O'Dea is the perfect candidate, according to Mitch McConnell," the ad states, with a photo of O'Dea and McConnell.
"It's clever in a way that it's not like a cold two-by-four, 'don't vote for them,' you know we've seen all those dark ads before, and those have some limited effect," Flaherty said. "Their research has clearly shown that Mitch McConnell's image rating in the state of Colorado, among unaffiliated voters, is likely to be very, very poor, otherwise they would not introduce that content within a 30-second ad."
He said that it also requires the voter to know who these national figures are in the first place.
"It's an above average complication, so you're assuming a lot of things about the voter that's watching this ad is that, yes, they are familiar with Mitch McConnell, and they do not have a favorable opinion of him," Flaherty said.
How to do a successful negative political ad is something that is not learned overnight, according to Flaherty.
"Negative ads and the content, that's a whole, entire high-level course to be honest with you, how to properly do negative," Flaherty said. "The flavor and how the negative information is presented in the ad is really an art."
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