Super-PACs,
or Political Action committees, have put millions of dollars in TV ads for the
primary election. These groups’ main focuses are to promote the candidate of
their choice by sponsoring advertisements and fundraising. Groups like Restore Our Future and Winning Our
Future are two main examples. They have been known for attacking candidates and
affecting peoples views on rival candidates.
Restore
Our Future is an organization that supports Mitt Romney’s campaign. It has supported
and sponsored many anti-Gingrich advertisements. This organization is under the
leadership of people who have worked with Romney in politics and have several ideas
that they think Romney needs in this campaign. Restore Our Future along with other
super-PACs had a major influence on Gingrich’s drop in polls since the Iowa
caucus. According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 96% of super-PAC spending has attacked
Gingrich since Iowa.
Winning
Our Future is an organization that promotes Gingrich’s candidacy. They produced a 28-minute documentary that attacked Romney and his past policies and
experiences. Gingrich was not in favor of this documentary and told the
committee to get rid of every mistake in the film or remove it completely.
I think that this shows how some super-PACs are going
too far in their campaigns.
A
lot of the time it seems like messages promoted by super-PACs get very contorted. Sometimes it is hard
to know what to believe as factual information. Many advertisements take words
and phrases out of context to make their rival look ignorant and foolish.
According to Bloomberg, candidates are getting tired of the super-PACs too. In
debates, candidates have targeted on another for the ads their Super-PACs have
produced. In reality the political candidates have no control over what the
super-PACs post. They can oppose the ads and request they be removed, but that
is all.
While
super-PACs can be beneficial, from the ones I have seen and researched they
have mostly negative advertisements. They are even making some candidates frustrated.
People who are involved in politics and watch the news are able to see the ads
that super-PACs are promoting and realize that what they are promoting are
incorrect or out of context. Then there are people like me who don’t really
keep up with the news, who are maybe a little bit ignorant, and who see these
advertisements and believe them. Even if I realize that they aren’t accurate, I
can’t always pinpoint what is wrong with them and what is actually true.
I
would rather make an opinion after listening to the candidates speak without
all of the extra clips and pieces that super-PACs take out of context and put
together in an advertisement. It can even hurt the candidate they are trying to
support because it makes him look like he is attacking the other candidate. In
conclusion, I believe that super-PACs are overstepping their boundaries in this
election because they often give distorted images about candidates and can
confuse the average voter.
I agree with you Erin, in that super-PACs are going too far and they’re overstepping their boundaries for what they should and shouldn’t say about political candidates. I too am one of those ill-informed voters so when I try to get informed about the candidate I want to vote for, those advertisements are pulling me away from what I thought I knew about the candidate. I think the advertisements are swaying people’s vote, which is fine, but they need to do so in an honest manor.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, people need to realize this is a campaign and people are competing against each other. Of course the other side will try to persuade you to vote for them and use whatever they can to convince you they are right. So as a voter, you should stay informed in all aspects of the campaign and research information if you think it might not be completely true. With that being said, I agree with you that super-PACs are out of control, but I also think that puts it back on the people to stay informed with what’s going on in the election.