As next year’s presidential election gets closer, controversial issues such as immigration reform will be thrust into the spotlight more and more often. One of the most effective ways that political leaders and activists alike can support their cause is through political advertisements. Usually, political candidates running for every kind of office make up the bulk of these kinds of ads, but recently, political reform groups have taken to television and radio to use political advertisements to spread their message.
Through the radio
Although the two political parties feel drastically different on the issue of immigration, both Republicans and Democrats have turned to the advertisement strategy to promote their views. In both cases, negative advertising strategies are utilized to get their messages across to audience members. This seems to be a growing trend in political ads because negative campaign advertisements work more effectively than neutral or positive counterparts, according to CNN.
One example is the Courageous Conservative PAC’s radio advertisement that bashes Sen. Marco Rubio and praises presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz. The ad tries to highlight Cruz’s consistency in voting conservatively versus Rubio’s back-and-forth voting record. It aired in Iowa and cost about $15,000 in backing, according to the Washington Post.
“Marco Rubio betrayed our trust, failed us, and he’s done nothing since coming to Washington but push for amnesty,” the narrator of the commercial says, according to The New York Times. ” [Support Cruz] now, before it’s too late.”
On television
Unions that support positive immigration reform are running a television advertisement, too, and are releasing one that slams candidates Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, in addition to Cruz and Rubio, for their closed-minded views on the issue of immigration reform. The ad is set to premiere during the Latin Grammys, airing on the most popular Spanish-speaking station in the U.S., Univision.
“One year ago, President Obama took historic action, standing up for all families striving to achieve the American Dream,” said Rocio Saenz, the SEIU international executive vice president, in a statement. “Since then, we have reached one full year of consistent attacks against Latino and immigrant families. It’s simply inexcusable.”
The Service Employees International Union (which endorsed Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate) and the iAmerica Action group sponsored the ad and spent over $100,000 in their efforts to call attention to the negative immigration views held by the main GOP candidates, according to the Huffington Post.
As the race for the presidency heats up, there will no doubt be even more political advertisements around the controversial topic of immigration reform.