IRCPPS in the Links: How US Political Campaign Advertising Works

John Sides writes on the subject in 538:

So what do we know about campaign advertising? There is a better answer to this question. Just as Mr. Beane turned to math geeks, we can turn to a different species of geek: political scientists. Here are the lessons of their research about when campaign advertising does and does not matter.

1. Campaign ads matter more when the candidates are unfamiliar...
2. Campaign ads matter more when a candidate can outspend the opponent...
3. Campaign ads can matter, but not for long...

 

IRCPPS in the Links: Does Appearance Matter? Assessing US Male Political Candidate's Weight vs. Their Political Success

In a Monkey Cage blog post, John Sides rips up an article by Michael Kinsley that posits Chris Christie won't be a successful candidate because he is too obese:

It’s because he prefers to toss off some musings instead of just reading some political science.  Here again is my post from three weeks ago.  And here is the paper it discussed, by Beth Miller, Jennifer Lundgren, Diane Filion, and Lauren Thompson.  In their study, obese male candidates were actually evaluated MORE POSITIVELY than non-obese male candidates.  This is hardly the last word on the subject, but, you know, it seems relevant.  Maybe Beth Miller and colleagues deserve a Bloomberg column.