Power of advertising: Voters would benefit by seeing more newspaper pieces

By Herb Field
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg

This will strike some as self-serving, but I've thought this for years and every election I wonder why we see less of it rather than more. I'm talking about newspaper political advertisements. If a candidate has something more to offer than 30-second sound bites -- and we all hope they do -- the printed page offers a golden opportunity to outline a platform and advocate at some length for one's election.

Herb Field

That so few candidates actually provide the public with details
about how they propose to accomplish all that they promise
contributes to the sorry state of political discourse in this
country. Of course, candidates often provide more extensive
information about their positions on their web sites, but how many people actually bother to look them up? The candidates, in effect, make interested people work to see if they have anything to offer beyond the usual political drivel they put on television. 

So few candidates use newspaper advertising to get out their
message that the sheer novelty of someone mounting a campaign that appealed to voters' intelligence -- as opposed to their short attention spans -- would likely prove a resounding success. 

Such a campaign should appeal most to the novice or little-known candidate, though it would be refreshing for any candidate running for any office. Starting early, several medium-sized newspaper ads run over the course of a campaign would allow a candidate to introduce herself, lay out her views on key issues and make the case for her election. (Men may also participate, but Pennsylvania definitely needs more women running for -- and getting elected to -- public office.) 

Who will see and read these ads? People who care about their
communities and their country. People who are politically astute and share their thoughts with others. And most of all, people who actually go out and exercise their right to vote. 

A newspaper advertisement that makes good use of its space to convey a message is going to tell the public more about the
candidate than 1,000 yard signs ever could or 30-seconds of sound bites aired over and over to the point of being annoying and turning people off. 

THIS IS NOT for people who have nothing to say, who have no
ideas of their own, and who come to the party thinking that
their mere presence ought to suffice to win someone's vote.
There are those kinds of candidates, unfortunately. 

Nor should candidates spending advertising dollars at their local newspaper expect to win the editorial board's endorsement. That's not how it works. 

Many candidates running for all sorts of public office need to do a better job of selling themselves. Candidates who can't adequately explain why they are seeking elected office -- and I've met some who couldn't -- should not expect others to figure it out. 

JUST THE mere exercise of planning a newspaper-ad campaign and giving some considerable thought to what one is to say would serve to help candidates better articulate why they are running in the first place and what they hope to accomplish. 

Especially when it comes to state and local elections, most voters have little real insight into who the candidates are, what they believe and what they want to do in office should they have the privilege of getting elected to it. 

Newspaper advertisements offer a way for candidates to tell us about themselves to a degree we rarely encounter anymore. The political process is all the poorer for that lack of detail and insight into those who seek our votes. 

HERB FIELD is a Patriot-News editorial writer: 255-8441 or hfield@patriot-news.com.