"I approve this message"
The New York Times reports: They were four words that were expected to forever change the tone of television politics: "I approve this message."
They were part of a provision of the new campaign finance law that requires candidates to appear in their own commercials to endorse them, in part to discourage outrageous attack advertisements.
And it seemed to work for a time, during the primary season. But advertisements in the presidential and Congressional races are just as harsh, perhaps harsher, than they have ever been, political analysts say. And pollsters are mixed about whether the candidates are paying a price among voters for having their faces in their attack advertisements.
The thing Republicans and Democrats can agree upon this campaign season is that the support provision has not affected the tone and tenor of the advertising war, despite the hopes of so many of its proponents.
Some argue that the partisan lines are drawn so deep this year, the policy differences so serious, that no outside factor could restrain the inevitable hyperbole. Others say the provision did not have a shot anyway. -- Advertising: An Idea, With 4 Words, That Was Supposed to Soothe the Tone of Ads but Did Not (New York Times)