UW-L political scientist talks of disdain for political ads, says simply go watch a debate instead

It may be obvious, but 30-second political ads can’t tell you much about a candidate, which can make those ads very misleading.

Heim

Political scientist Joe Heim from is concerned about ads, especially from outside groups that may try to portray certain candidates as all-powerful.

“You know we have a dictatorship here that people can say ‘I’m going to raise your taxes.’ or ‘I’m going to lower your taxes.'” Heim, a University of La Crosse professor, said Tuesday morning on WIZM. “Have you noticed a lot of people have said things like that.

“Believe it or not, governors are not dictators.”

Voters got a chance to see Democratic Congressman Ron Kind and his Republican challenger Steve Toft on Monday night at UW-L.

Heim was the moderator. He believes seeing candidates onstage is more helpful to voters than hearing campaign ads.

“If you watch a candidate, or both candidates for an hour, after a debate, you will figure out pretty quickly which one you like or don’t like,” Heim said.

Heim has noticed that more ads this year are telling voters directly who they should not support.