Campaign ads: Rules on facts

WLUK TV

Updated: Oct 8, 2012 5:45 PM

GREEN BAY — You may have seen a campaign ad recently attacking Democratic congressional candidate Jamie Wall.

The Republican National Congressional Committee released the ad. It accuses him of out-sourcing jobs to China.

Monday afternoon, Wall defended his record as a business consultant.

Wall said while he worked for Frontier Strategy Group in 2010, he never advised to ship jobs overseas.

Incumbent Republican Congressman Reid Ribble’s staffers say Wall needs to come clean.

"We've pushed back. We've said on TV that these ads are not true and that Congressman Reid Ribble has a poor record on defending jobs,” said Wall.

"We had to have an ad that talked about his background. He refuses to talk about his business background,” said John Schmeider, Ribble’s campaign manager. 

The dueling Ribble and Wall ads have opened up the debate on whether campaign ads speak the truth.

"You hear a lot of these accusations in campaigns,” said Mark Graul.

Graul’s a Green Bay political strategist. He says he used to make ads for Republican candidates.

Graul says the facts in ads rarely get officially contested.

"It usually doesn't get me far because the other side will argue this is how I prove that point,” described Graul.

The Federal Election Commission requires each ad needs a disclaimer, letting voters know who foots the bill.

But beyond that, not much is regulated as far as the content of the ads.

"We have the obligation to carry the ad as is. So we can't touch them,” said FOX 11's General Manager Jay Zollar.

Zollar says he occasionally receives complaints about false campaign ads. But, the commercials are rarely pulled from air.

"The fact is, there is usually not enough there to say what they're claiming in these commercials would warrant them being completely false and inaccurate,” said Zollar.

Democratic congressional candidate Jamie Wall says though his opponent Congressman Ribble made false accusations in this ad, he won't be taking it up with the FEC.

"The way our politics works right now it's up to the integrity of the politicians,” said Wall.

Wisconsin state statutes prevent ads from having "untruths" in them. Strategists say truths are often a grey area.

"There's a lot of ways to interpret a charge made in a 30 second commercial. You can say, well, the way I back that part up is based on evidence,” said Graul.

Those involved with running the spots say a campaign ad's main purpose isn't to inform. It's to persuade.

"It's incumbent upon the voters to try to dive in a little bit and figure out more rather than just relying on those 30 second spots put out by campaigns,” said Graul.

Strategists say television advertising remains the most effective campaign tool.

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