{"text":[[{"start":9.68,"text":"From first thing in the morning until late at night, Jim Kinney’s day is peppered with ads about the US midterm elections. They have flooded YouTube, the morning television news, email inboxes — and the games he plays on his phone."}],[{"start":22.6,"text":"“I am seeing far, far more ads than I would like,” said Kinney, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, where Democrats and Republicans are competing in a fierce Senate race that could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress."}],[{"start":34.84,"text":"“I’m not entirely sure there even are any non-political ads on the morning news anymore,” he said. “I want this over so much.”"}],[{"start":42.54,"text":"With just a week left until midterm elections, candidates from both parties are blasting the airwaves with attack ads and entreaties for people to get out and vote, especially in toss-up races."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":52.96,"text":"In recent weeks, several polls have shifted in the Democrats’ favour, prompting a surge of ads in newly competitive races, including in states that were previously Republican strongholds."}],[{"start":63.14,"text":"Candidates and allied groups have spent about $11.3bn on political ads for all midterm-related races this election cycle, according to analytics platform AdImpact. That figure marks a record amount for midterms — and is more than was spent on the 2024 presidential election."}],[{"start":79.9,"text":"On the receiving end of this advertising deluge is an increasingly annoyed electorate. Attack ads, ubiquitous across both parties’ campaigns, are especially loathed."}],[{"start":89.16,"text":"You would have to “turn off your phone and not get on the computer and not have a television” to avoid political ads, said one voter in Lawrence, Kansas, where the Senate race was recently rated as a “toss-up”."}],[{"start":99.64,"text":"“My mailbox is stuffed over and over again. And text messaging — I don’t know who got my phone number,” said the 57-year-old, who requested anonymity over concerns about online harassment. “I used to get zero [texts] and now I’m probably getting at least two a day, sometimes up to four or five.”"}],[{"start":116.1,"text":"“You just cannot escape,” she told the FT."}],[{"start":118.68,"text":"According to AdImpact, the ratio of political to non-political TV ads has increased sharply over the past month, particularly in battleground states. In Des Moines, Iowa, where Democratic and Republican candidates are locked in a close competition for a Senate seat, about 36 per cent of all ads are about politics."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":137.64,"text":"More concerning for voters than the flood of annoying ads is the force behind it: millions of dollars of donations, often from outside spending groups backed by wealthy mega-donors."}],[{"start":147.32,"text":"Unlike in other countries, US companies and wealthy individuals can spend an unlimited amount of money on political ads because of the 2010 Supreme Court ruling regarding Citizens United that determined political spending was a form of free speech."}],[{"start":160.8,"text":"In June, America’s highest court further lifted limits on how much political parties can spend money on their candidates’ campaigns."}],[{"start":168.08,"text":"“The public in the US is extraordinarily angry about our campaign finance system, and it’s not just about getting bombarded with stupid ads,” said Daniel Weiner, who focuses on money in politics and elections at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. “It’s that they fundamentally perceive the system as rigged against ordinary people.”"}],[{"start":186.82,"text":"“It has created a real sense that there’s a democratic deficit in the US and that the government isn’t accountable to ordinary Americans,” he said."}],[{"start":194.4,"text":"According to a September Gallup poll, about 89 per cent of Americans — the highest in 20 years — say government corruption is widespread in the US. This week, the FT’s poll found 69 per cent of voters are concerned about corruption and self-dealing in Donald Trump’s administration."}],[{"start":211.26,"text":"Candidates in this year’s midterms have taken note. Many attack ads accuse opponents of profiting from politics or seek to connect them with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose name is now used as shorthand for unaccountable elites."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":224.96,"text":"While bombarding voters with ads may not seem like an effective tactic, studies have shown it can work. In 2021, a study published by Cambridge University Press estimated that a Senate candidate with a $2mn TV advert advantage could gain about 10,000 votes — enough to potentially tip a close race."}],[{"start":242.86,"text":"Text messaging platform RumbleUp says some of its most successful political fundraising campaigns have logged click-through rates as high as 65 per cent for donation links."}],[{"start":252.8,"text":"Erik Peterson, political science professor at Rice University in Texas, said: “The effects of ads are not unbounded, but they are also a clear lever for campaigns to try and win elections, especially given how close many of these races seem to be.”"}],[{"start":268.38,"text":"In the current environment, candidates may also have no choice but to spend. “If one candidate unilaterally cut back, their opponent would stand to gain from continuing on the air unchallenged,” Peterson added."}],[{"start":280.48,"text":"Campaigns target voters by maintaining lists of social media accounts and showing ads to users with specific interests. According to Meta’s ad library, Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has targeted users interested in the Middle East, marathons and national parks."}],[{"start":297.44,"text":"Political ads can backfire. Last week, Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor of Ohio, ran an attack advert showing the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent denouncing her as a liar. Members of both parties condemned the ad, though Trump later defended Ramaswamy."}],[{"start":315.04,"text":"“I hate negative advertising,” said Kinney, citing Ramaswamy’s “scare tactic flyers” as especially irritating."}],[{"start":321.52,"text":"“I’m tired of politics coming down to who has the most money,” he added. “Money is a corrupting influence in politics, and Citizens United is probably the worst ruling in modern history.”"}],[{"start":332.48,"text":"Additional graphics by Dan Clark and reporting by KJ Edelman. The text messages visualised in this article come from messages seen by FT reporters."}],[{"start":346.92,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793174639_5863.mp3"}