This alone will cost Bush Votes
Instant Messenger Delivers Political Pop-Ups
Welcome to the next great leap forward in online political attack ads: instant messaging pop-ups.
Some computer users are reporting a pop-up that appears on their monitors when the only application running is America Online's Instant Messenger.
The ad features a sallow-looking headshot of Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), gazing across a wall-to-wall field of $50 and $100 bills. The text reads, "Learn The Truth About John Edwards" and offers viewers the chance to click on a link. That link takes them to a Web site called www.thetruthabouttriallawyers.com. The sites feature two videos excoriating Edwards's history as a trial lawyer. A petition on the site urges people to "Tell John Edwards to urge his friends to: Stop suing our doctors! Stop abusing our courts! Stop wrecking our economy!"
The ad and site are paid for by the November Fund, a group supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It was established to urge tort reform and raise support against Edwards's bid for the vice presidency. The chamber has spent $3 million on the fund so far, according to an October filing with the Internal Revenue Service, which maintains a searchable database on so-called 527 advocacy groups.
Shelley Hymes, a spokeswoman for the November Fund, said the campaign began last Monday and would run through Election Day. She said that feedback "has been terrific" from the technology community and from people who received the ad. She said the group has gotten no complaints, though a Google search reveals griping about the ads on several online weblogs.
AOL accepts political advertising on its service (as does washingtonpost.com) as well as through IM, though spokesman Andrew Weinstein declined to name most other political groups that have bought ad space. The Democratic National Committee runs ads through AOL IM, but not as pop-ups.
Welcome to the next great leap forward in online political attack ads: instant messaging pop-ups.
Some computer users are reporting a pop-up that appears on their monitors when the only application running is America Online's Instant Messenger.
The ad features a sallow-looking headshot of Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), gazing across a wall-to-wall field of $50 and $100 bills. The text reads, "Learn The Truth About John Edwards" and offers viewers the chance to click on a link. That link takes them to a Web site called www.thetruthabouttriallawyers.com. The sites feature two videos excoriating Edwards's history as a trial lawyer. A petition on the site urges people to "Tell John Edwards to urge his friends to: Stop suing our doctors! Stop abusing our courts! Stop wrecking our economy!"
The ad and site are paid for by the November Fund, a group supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It was established to urge tort reform and raise support against Edwards's bid for the vice presidency. The chamber has spent $3 million on the fund so far, according to an October filing with the Internal Revenue Service, which maintains a searchable database on so-called 527 advocacy groups.
Shelley Hymes, a spokeswoman for the November Fund, said the campaign began last Monday and would run through Election Day. She said that feedback "has been terrific" from the technology community and from people who received the ad. She said the group has gotten no complaints, though a Google search reveals griping about the ads on several online weblogs.
AOL accepts political advertising on its service (as does washingtonpost.com) as well as through IM, though spokesman Andrew Weinstein declined to name most other political groups that have bought ad space. The Democratic National Committee runs ads through AOL IM, but not as pop-ups.
Comments
by Bob Clasen
I am a "trial lawyer" of sorts; a defense attorney, and I know that not all trial lawyers are bad guys. But do you really think that the fact that John Edwards is a Plaintiff's Trial Attorney is a plus to the Kerry campaign? The reputation of the Plaintiff's bar in this country is one of the things that makes my job as a defense attorney so much easier. The average person does not trust attorneys in general, and plaintiff attorneys in particular. The fact that he sues doctors for malpractice does not particularly help.
Do you consider the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a radical Republican group?
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