A new report from the Wesleyan Media Project says Connecticut's gubernatorial contest is now the most negative race in the nation.
Erika Franklin Fowler is co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which has analyzed advertisements all over the country for this year's midterm elections. "We do tend to see movement in polls due to negativity," she said. "The reason why you continue to see lots of negative [ads] is because people do seem to respond to them."
The latest Quinnipiac University poll declared it a dead heat between republican Tom Foley and Governor Dannel Malloy. That's sent attack ads through the roof this campaign cycle. Franklin Fowler said her project found Connecticut's gubernatorial race to be the most negative contest in the country with nearly 80 percent of ads dubbed "negative" versus only five percent "positive."
"Foley and his allies are going after Malloy for being a career politician. For higher taxes that hurt the middle class," Franklin Fowler said. "Whereas Democratic groups and Malloy are going after Foley for tax breaks for millionaires. For being anti-worker for not caring about the average citizen."
Franklin Fowler said negative ads -- and TV advertising in general -- is generally targeted toward undecided voters and she said, "Negativity isn't always bad. In a world where citizens don't always pay a lot of attention to politics, a negative ad that induces a little bit of fear and therefore some information seeking, can actually be a good thing."
Election day is Tuesday, November 4.
