Annenberg data on Bush 9/11 Ads

[newsguyatl]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: March 12, 2004

CONTACT: Adam Clymer at 202-879-6757 or [phone] (cell)

VISIT: www.naes04.org



Majority Considers Bush Ads' 9/11 Images "Inappropriate,"

National Annenberg Election Survey Shows



A majority of the American public considers it inappropriate for President Bush's re-election campaign to use images from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in its television commercials, the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey shows.



While the heaviest criticism came from committed supporters of John Kerry, there was also significant unhappiness about the ads among voters who have not yet firmly decided for whom to vote.



Pictures of the damage to New York City were shown in one of the campaign's first television commercials, and a picture of firefighters carrying a flag-draped stretcher out of the rubble were used in another. Democrats have attacked the ads as a tasteless politicizing of a national tragedy. Republicans have said they reflect the seriousness of terrorism and Bush's leadership. The ads have been shown in battleground states and widely carried in television news programs.

Fifty-five percent said they found the ad showing the city damage inappropriate, while 41 percent said it was appropriate. Fifty-four percent found the ad showing the firefighters and the flag inappropriate and 37 percent said it was appropriate.



Respondents among the 1,265 people polled from March 5 through 11 were asked about one ad or the other, not about both. In all 54 percent found the ad they were asked about inappropriate, and 39 percent found it appropriate. The margin of sampling error for the entire sample is plus or minus three percentage points. For the groups asked about each ad it is plus or minus four percentage points.



There was a strong partisan element to the responses, as 67 percent of Republicans found the ad they were asked about appropriate, and 27 percent found it inappropriate. Among Democrats, 73 percent said "inappropriate" and 21 percent said "appropriate." Independents were about as negative as the public as a whole, with 56 percent saying the ad they were asked about was inappropriate and 37 percent saying it was appropriate.





Adam Clymer, political director of the survey, said the most important respondents were the minority who had not yet made a choice between Bush and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, or had made one but said there was a "good chance" they could change their minds.



He said "Those 'persuadables' were less hostile to the ads than the public generally, but a significant share of them objected." In that group, 52 percent found the ads inappropriate, while 27 percent said they were appropriate. That group was younger than the public as a whole. It also gave Bush a 68 percent approval rating on his handling of his job as president, compared to 55 percent from the public generally.



Clymer said respondents who called the ads "very inappropriate" might be more likely to have them affect their vote than those who approved of them or were only somewhat critical. Thirty percent of the "persuadables" called the ad they were asked about "very inappropriate." So did 54 percent of Democrats, 11 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of independents. In the public as a whole, 35 percent said the ad they were asked about was "very inappropriate."



Other groups most likely to call the ads "very inappropriate" were African-Americans (55 percent), liberals (51 percent), people with household incomes below $35,000 (42 percent), and those 65 and older (44 percent).



Those most likely to say the ads were "very appropriate" were Republicans (35 percent), conservatives (24 percent) and those with household incomes of $75,000 or more (22 percent). In all, 16 percent of the public said they were "very appropriate." There were only slight differences of opinion, most of them statistically insignificant, between people who said they had seen the ads, as opposed to those who had only heard or read about them or had no knowledge of them. Twenty-one percent of those who had seen the ads called them "very appropriate," compared to 13 percent of everyone else. And 37 percent of those who had seen the ads said they were "very inappropriate," compared to 34 percent of everyone else.



That National Annenberg Election Survey, the largest academic election poll, is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (www.AnnenbergPublicPolicyCenter.org). It has been tracking the presidential campaign since October 7, and interviewing will continue until after Election Day. Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson is the director of the survey. Ken Winneg is the managing director of the survey. Adam Clymer is the political director of the survey.

Another major election project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center is FactCheck.org a project that tries to hold politicians accountable by exposing false or misleading campaign statements. It is available online at www.FactCheck.Org.

[boobooday]

1. A Vote for Bush is a Vote for Mass Destruction

Don't you love the ad that gives the laundry list of horrible things that have happened since Bush took office, and then says, "strong steady leadership."

Notice they don't say WHERE he is leading. haha Right down the toilet.



http://www.wgoeshome.com

[lolly]

2. "Trifecta" fair game now

Whatever reservations any dems had about using AWOL's "trifecta" comment, and the ensuing giggling, should be GONE now.

Can't Kerry or MoveOn or somebody use that recording in an ad blitz now?

[elperromagico]

3. "Congratulations, Mr. President, You've Hit The Trifecta"

I can almost see the ad now.