The American Public Health Administration has begun airing a new TV ad supporting Pres. Obama's nominee for EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy. It's the first time the nonprofit group has aired an ad backing a specific nominee, according to a spokeswoman.
Continue reading2016 preview? Three videos by GOP groups all target Hillary Clinton
As the White House released long-sought documents on the Benghazi affair and Republican lawmakers have renewed their criticism of the Obama administration's handling of it, three big Republican groups have all produced videos on the episode that led to the death of an American ambassador. All strike a similar tone and focus on the same target: Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state whose strong polling numbers make her an early favorite in the 2016 presidential election.
One video comes from the Republican National Committee and two from outside spending groups: American Crossroads, a super PAC, and American Future ...
Continue readingMayors Against Illegal Guns hits the airwaves in N.H and Pa.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the pro-gun control group backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is not giving up the fight.
Three weeks after the Senate rejected legislation offered in the wake of the December shooting massacre that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school, the group is launching what appears to be a high-priced ad campaign to keep the pressure on lawmakers.
The ad seen above attacks Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican who was the lone lawmaker from the Northeast to vote against the gun control measure; another advertisement praises Sen. Pat Toomey, a ...
Continue readingResearch Tool Kit: Gun Laws, Lobbying and Influence in the United States
With the U.S. Senate expected to take up gun legislation next week and recent passing of gun laws in Connecticut, Colorado and Maryland, we put together a tool kit on the issues around gun rights and gun control. For more information, you can follow the money, influence and news on the issue of gun control and gun rights in the U.S. at our resource page. Keep reading for information about state legislation, swing votes in the Senate, political spending by gun rights and gun control groups, details on how they lobby Congress and where they are airing TV issue ads.
Continue readingThe Issue Groups Taking to TV So Far in 2013
While it’s not at the volume of the Fall, our television screens are continuing to experience a case of “political ad fever.” From commercials about gun laws and tax rates to ads about alleged animal cruelty, issue groups took to the airwaves this winter. We reviewed the ad files in Political Ad Sleuth for the first three months of 2013 and mapped the trends among issue group advertisers in the nation’s top 50 media markets.
Sidebar: Don't let broadcasters shut down FCC political ad database over online ripoff
Broadcast TV stations in 32 media markets aired issue ads from at least 55 advertisers. The political ads were split pretty evenly between a local or national scope, covering 27 different topics. Three markets had a diverse selection of advertisers:- Washington, DC — 14 issue groups bought airtime, including four on the topic of gun control, three urging the Senate not to appoint Chuck Hagel and one supporting the U.S. postal service.
- Milwaukee — 7, with issue ads around candidates for the city’s judge circuit race being the majority of the ones we found.
- Los Angeles — 6, mostly centered on candidates in the LA mayoral race.
The real scam: Don’t let broadcasters shut down FCC political ad database over online ripoff
A story which had been making the rounds in broadcast trade publications, broke into the mainstream media Thursday, when NPR reported that scammers have been taking advantage of the Federal Communications Commission's online political ad file to rip off political consultants.
Hold the no-honor-among-thieves jokes. Let's just stipulate that stealing is not a good thing, even if the victims are political consultants. More worrisome than what the latest developments on the FCC database mean for advertisers' information is what they could mean for yours.
McConnell fires back in early campaign air wars
On the defensive and trying to wade off a Tea Party challenge, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has hit the airwaves with ads 20 months before Election Day.
His campaign is dropping at least $21,000 to run its first ads of the 2014 campaign, in the Louisville TV market over the next week during the Today Show, the nightly news, Dancing with the Stars and Americas Funniest Home videos, new ad buys disclosed on Political Ad Sleuth show. The Associated Press quoted a McConnell's spokesman as saying the total ad buy will run into six figures. (Only ...
Continue readingSince Newtown, full employment for gun lobbyists
Since the Dec. 14 shooting that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school, at least 22 lobbyists have registered to influence Congress on gun-related issues, and several have been holding fundraisers for Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who is a potential swing vote in the legislative battle on Capitol Hill.
Continue readingNo sequester for political ads
In honor of the snowquester, as the Washington Post's cheeky Weather Gang has dubbed the spring storm that so far has proven more effective than the Tea Party in reining in government, Sunlight has decided to take a look at the efforts getting underway by various groups to keep the actual sequester at bay.
Like the Atlantic snowstorm, this effort is starting slowly but likely to build.
The Sunlight Reporting Group is using two of our foundation's tools, Ad Hawk and Political Ad Sleuth, to keep an eye on this year's political ads. We'll be updating ...
Continue readingGun ads in Illinois primary a harbinger of things to come?
The gun debate is already emerging as an issue for the 2014 election cycle. In the weeks since the State of the Union address, which President Barack Obama used to make an emotional appeal for gun control, at least seven groups have either purchased airtime in major markets around the country or posted TV-ready ads to their Youtube accounts.
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