As November's United States elections approach, voters are being bombarded with political ads on television, cable and online platforms. Advertising funds are expected to reach a historic record compared to any election ever held in the United States. A voter in a key electoral district in the state of Arizona says that these funds could have been used to help needy categories of society and not for political attacks of candidates against each other.
Maria Jones loved watching TV shows until the ads for the November election "entered" her living room.
For months, Ms. Jones has been bombarded with campaign ads.
"Being retired, I watch a lot of television, maybe 6 to 8 hours a day. I see a lot of political ads recently, maybe about 25% a day. They are usually on local channels and are shown before the news, during news and daytime programmes," says Ms Jones.
She is an Air Force veteran and a 53-year-old Democratic voter in Arizona's most populous municipality, Maricopa, Phoenix, where the fate of state and national elections is often decided.
Arizona will vote for governor and representatives in the Senate in November elections that will decide not only which political force controls Congress, but also the future of American democracy.
She says the ads are overkill.
"I am subscribed to many platforms and I have noticed many political ads on them as well. I was surprised to see them, but I believe they center them depending on the area you are in. For example, I've seen ads on the Hulu and Tubi platforms," she says.
Spending on election advertising is expected to reach $10 billion by Election Day, November 8 – a new record for US election history. That's more than double the funds spent on the 2018 election, and even surpasses the record $9 billion spent on the 2020 presidential election, according to data from research firm AdImpact.
"The money they're spending on these ads could have been used for our system, to help people, for the homeless problem. They could be directed elsewhere to help people and when you do something like that you can include it in your ad. It's a plus and certainly not a negative," says Ms Jones.
She says many of the ads are attacks from Republicans against Democratic candidates on the issue of inflation and President Biden's job performance, or from Democrats attacking Republicans for measures to ban abortion after the Supreme Court decision.
Ms Jones says ads attacking the candidates don't affect her, as she knows there's more to everything than meets the eye. However, she says that some of the political advertisements have "opened" her eyes to research a little more the history of the candidates in the elections./VOA/
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