Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Politics is dirty, kids.

An ad for Democrat Claire McCaskill's Senate campaign in Missouri features Michael J. Fox swaying from the effects of Parkinson's disease while he talks about stem cell research. Treatment of Parkinson's is likely to benefit from the expansion of stem cell research, which is currently not federally funded.

Political ads using emotional issues like this seem exploitative to me. They always seem exploitative to the opposing party -- Republicans are expressing their "outrage" over this one, Dems do the same when Republicans use 9/11 images in their ads. But the ads aren't going away anytime soon, because people act based on their emotions. This type of campaign ad is effective. Should it be?

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