Study indicates Talent and McCaskill television ads are mostly positive and policy oriented

As Missouri's Senate race approaches the wire, public opinion polls suggest Republican Senator Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill are locked in a dead heat. Despite a tight race, recent findings by a University of Missouri-Columbia professor indicate both candidates, thus far, have taken the high road when advertising on television.

William Benoit, professor of Communication, said Talent and McCaskill, through September, had similar advertising strategies – offering mostly positive statements to television viewers and focusing mainly on policies rather than character.

The negative advertisements, Benoit said, came from the Democratic and Republican national committees. A total of 14 television advertisements were analyzed: seven each for Talent and McCaskill. Benoit also analyzed ads by both committees.

"Talent and McCaskill have stayed mainly positive," Benoit said. "They also are discussing policy almost twice as much as character."

Benoit's study indicates that 71 percent of the statements made by Talent were positive; 74 for McCaskill. He said examples of positive statements can be heard in McCaskill's ad that focuses on her commitment to crack down on domestic violence, track and stop sexual predators and secure borders against the threats of illegal immigration and methamphetamine. The same can be said of Talent's ad that highlights his work to make tax cuts permanent, keep our borders secure and strengthen laws to keep meth away from kids.

Benoit said both candidates have discussed policy-related issues 65 percent of the time, targeting issues such as veterans' benefits, gas prices, meth, health care costs, immigration, protecting traditional marriage and the death tax. He said that trend is consistent with Democratic senate committee ads, which focus on policy at nearly twice the rate of Republicans (80 to 43 percent).

Still, Benoit said roughly 25 percent of the statements by Talent and McCaskill were negative. This is a pale comparison to ads produced nationally for the Missouri race, where attacking statements were used 76 percent of the time, according to Benoit.

"This emphasis on attacks in non-candidate ads is consistent with prior research, which has shown that a larger proportion of attacks are made in ads sponsored by political parties or interest groups (PACs or 527 groups) than the candidates themselves," he said.

On October 8, 2006, Talent and McCaskill participated in a nationally televised debate on NBC's "Meet the Press." Benoit will provide content analysis following the debate. Please visit PoliticalCampaigns.missouri.edu.

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Bill Benoit
Department of Communication