Voters are persuaded by paid advertisers

Bernie Sanders is right. Billionaires buy elections. They donate huge amounts of money, used for advertising to influence voters. I worked for an ad agency and taught advertising at the college level. Vance Packard’s best-seller, “The Hidden Persuaders,” was my bible. This book exposed the use of in-depth psychological probing of emotions, especially fear, to sell products and ideas. For decades, the fear of not being loved has been used to sell lipstick and perfume to women, and shaving lotion and sports cars to men. Packard also devoted five chapters of his book to political advertising.

If you think that you can resist advertising, you may be right. But, since you’re reading the Opinion page, you’re not the average voter. You probably watch debates, read a newspaper and make informed decisions when you vote. Unfortunately, a large percentage of voters don’t. These folks are targeted by advertisers. They make their decisions based on sound bites, which they hear repeatedly on radio and TV. And their votes count just as much as yours.

I believe that political donations should be strictly limited. They do that in England. And they also limit the money that politicians can spend on their campaigns.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Voters are persuaded by paid advertisers."