James, an ad is not just an ad that announces itself ;the above is part of a campaign as are all the little innuendos on Rush and Glen Beck, all the tweets, and emails you get from uncle Fred. Nightly "news" too.
Sometimes I wonder if Rush failed to get behind McCain because he hadn't got his cut yet...

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Lets make it clear to our candidates that if they want to buy our votes, then they need to be using the right currency (feel free to add your own).

Free beer
Girls with big boobs at campaign rallies
Free BBQ

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

Leftists and very small children don't seem to be able to understand that the Government isn't there to "fix" the economy, anymore than a tick is there to fix your dog.~Oftencold

I take it you never voted in Texas.

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Yup. Usually, what they are doing is paying tribute (bribes) to gullible Pols, and polishing their public image for even more credible follo0wers of those Pols. Influencing the election is secondary, even irrelevant.

Companies that really want to influence elections have to engage in fraud, deceit, market manipulation and outright criminal activity.

See?

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“Quod scripsi, scripsi"

"Sometimes, the source of the beautiful dawning light that drives back the darkness, is your house burning"

The difference, at least for me, is that I want members of my own Party that engage in misbehavior in their official capacity to be fired, even prosecuted where crimes are committed. Had I my way, at the Federal level, many crimes involving maleficence 9in Office would be capital offenses.

Convicted of bribery in office? You get hanged.

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“Quod scripsi, scripsi"

"Sometimes, the source of the beautiful dawning light that drives back the darkness, is your house burning"

A speech, I don't regard as campaign advertising. A speech can be made for almost free. For even moderately prominent candidates, the press will cover it.

And again, one can put it on YouTube for free.

So, I don't think that you changed your vote because of the money spent on campaign advertising. let me know if you want me to change your vote.

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“Quod scripsi, scripsi"

"Sometimes, the source of the beautiful dawning light that drives back the darkness, is your house burning"

No I do not want you to change my vote. Pull back a stub if you do.
Advertising works. One of the biggest industries in America. Public Relations advertising, commercialism call it what you like. The fact you wear the clothes you do is because of advertising. Not because you saw a jean commercial and went out and bought a pair. Because guys your age group and life style were swayed to buy pants with rivets and so that is what you wear based on peer pressure. Perhaps you would be more comfortable in a kilt. Because of ad campaigns that bombard you and your society, you can't do that (except maybe for parades ).

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I wear the clothes I do because they were cheap. And I wish I could wear kilts without causing a fuss, not because they are like dresses, but because trousers were invented to allow men to ride horses with ease. I don't ride horses very often.

All that said, I still maintain that giving speeches is the sort of thing that will change the vote of an intelligent voter. It's the sort of activity that really teaches on about a politician's stance.

Conversely, campaign advertising is about reenforcing the meme, and motivating decided people to actually show up and vote.

If you change you mind about your vote in light of what I said here, let me know. I won't pester you abut it.

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“Quod scripsi, scripsi"

"Sometimes, the source of the beautiful dawning light that drives back the darkness, is your house burning"

Now you know how I started to feel with those who do honor killings. Beside that I didn't vote for either the first time around.



Double my S/S. And free non fat, suger free Ice Cream for my remaining years..

OC I am for that plus term limts, removeal of all political appointees, separate funds for the Veterans Admin., and bringing the VA funding to a proper amount now!
As with your ideas mine are right to, just one problem neither of us will live to see our beliefs become facts.

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"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation... One is by sword... The other is by debt."

John Adams 1826

No.* They do not have to engage in fraud, deceit, market manipulation and outright criminal activity in order to influence an election.
The previous legislation limited their influence, and now thanks to that SCOTUS ruling that limitation has been revoked.
*
Do you really need an education on how much LEGAL money is spent by companies in campaigning?*
*
Take these stats for example.
The cost of winning a House / Senate seat:
http://www.cfinst.org/data/pdf/VitalStats_t1.pdf
Or how about a break-down of the mean expenditures for Senate seats, as broken down by the outcome.
http://www.cfinst.org/data/pdf/VitalStats_t6.pdf
Campaigning (legal money documented) isn’t cheap.* The closer an election is, the more money the sides pour in to try to win.
Even a casual look at congress should show that they are too often representative of the companies that help them get elected, instead of the constituents.

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"Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value."
Albert Einstein