This article examines the role of television advertisements in the 2000 presidential campaign. Ads played a significant role in this election. Not only were commercials the single biggest expenditure in the campaigns of both Al Gore and George W. Bush, and a major tactic employed by party organizations and outside interest groups, but ads were also used to shape citizen impressions and affect news coverage (West 2001). Given the historically close election results, it is important to understand what messages were being communicated through commercials and how advertising in 2000 compared with advertising in previous presidential elections.
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