Nasty Campaign Ad Spending Beats Nice 10:1

From CBS News:

(AP) So far this campaign, the political parties have exposed voters to nearly $160 million in ads attacking congressional candidates. How much spent painting a positive image? About $17 million. That's just over $1 of nice for every $10 of nasty. The message ingrained in such a disparity in numbers: Don't vote for a candidate; vote against the opponent.
Under the terms of a 2002 campaign finance law, these messages are independent expenditures that the parties can undertake only if they do not coordinate with the candidates they are seeking to help. This type of spending by the parties on congressional campaigns is 54 percent higher than it was for the same period in the 2004 campaign season, according to data compiled by the Federal Election Commission...
At this point, Republicans have spent $87.5 million to oppose candidates and Democrats have spent $72.6 million. But the edge on negativity, according to independent analyses of the ads, goes to the GOP...
“Negative ads only work in two situations — when you are incredibly desperate or when you're incredibly close to the end,” said Ray Seidelman, a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College who has studied political advertising and voter turnout. For example, the political ad in Tennessee against Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford that features the blonde with a come-hither look received widespread attention. Critics denounced the ad financed by the Republican National Committee as appealing to racism because it suggested Ford, who is black, dated white women. The ad is no longer running...
Democrats are running their share of negative ads. For the most part, those ads link Republican candidates to President Bush, exploiting the president's low approval ratings.