Matt Nisbet has a post up talking about McCain's environment ad, and linking to a Media Curves study tracking people's reactions to the spot.
What's interesting from the results, is that in the beginning of the ad, Democrats respond positively to the opening pandora's box frame focusing on hurricanes, all three partisan groups decline in reaction to the discussion of two gridlocked polar extremes on the issue, and then Republicans spike favorably to the frame focus on national security and moral duty respectively.
Actually, I thought that the most interesting part of the ad was that all three sets of responses-- Democrats, independents, and Republicans-- jumped sharply in a negative direction every time McCain spoke. Just the phrase "I'm John McCain, and I approved this ad" got a negative reaction, even from Republicans.
Other than that, I don't think there was really anything surprising there-- at the beginning, it looks like a Democratic ad, so the Democrats respond positively, but as soon as it becomes clear that it's a Republican spot, their support comes crashing down. It's a neat site, though, and I like the tracking gimmick.
(The negative spike when McCain talks is probably a generic "politicians are more boring than well-crafted video clips" reaction, but it really does look a lot like everybody flinches when McCain appears...)
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Now now, he's not *especially* radioactive. Just cause you have to use carbon dating to age him, geeze. Poor guy.
Chad, I think you are misinterpreting the reason the curve went down at the end. This is done by having each viewer register their feelings during the ad, so imagine you are controlling the mouse. The final downward movement is right about when the Republican viewers actually register that the ad said "we have an obligation to fix it".
What I really noticed is how both Republicans and Independents were turned off as soon as they heard "climate change". Democrats need to run on the Bush energy policy that has been so good for oil companies (huge positives on that) and stay away from Al Gore.
I also noticed how totally empty the ad is. There is no there, there. It says the problem is real and we have to fix it, but it also says he is opposed to every way that has been proposed to fix it, without offering any alternative.
had, I think you are misinterpreting the reason the curve went down at the end. This is done by having each viewer register their feelings during the ad, so imagine you are controlling the mouse. The final downward movement is right about when the Republican viewers actually register that the ad said "we have an obligation to fix it".
That's a possibility, but there's also a downward tick in all three lines the first time McCain appears, in the middle of the ad. When they realize who the ad is for, everybody immediately feels less positive.