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Articles by Sasha Chavkin | Email the Author

 

1. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: Was outside money futile?

   November 8, 2012 11:10 AM

   Throughout the 2012 campaign, dozens of reporters and advocates kept a close eye on the flood of outside money that poured into the contest, most often from wealthy conservative donors. They tracked where it was coming from, how it was... Continue reading

2. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: GOP advantage in the House

   November 5, 2012 03:44 PM

   As Americans cast their votes for the next president, the Obama campaign and its supporters have maintained an unexpected advantage in the ad wars—defying predictions that the Democrat would be drowned out by a flood of cash from deep-pocketed... Continue reading

3. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: Romney’s Last-Minute Deceptions

   November 1, 2012 01:37 PM

   As the presidential race enters its critical final days, Mitt Romney’s campaign has drawn fire for two advertisements that it is airing in key swing states. The first, ”Who Will Do More?”, criticizes President Obama’s handling of the... Continue reading

4. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: a laurel to the Sunlight Foundation

   October 26, 2012 01:40 PM

   In an important victory for transparency advocates, the Federal Communications Commission recently began requiring broadcasters to post the files of political ad buys online. The new system, which went into effect on Aug. 2, meant that... Continue reading

5. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: Obama’s special message in Spanish

   October 23, 2012 04:35 PM

   Barack Obama gazes directly into the camera and speaks in his warmest baritone. “In the young people known as the DREAMers,” he begins, referring to the young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children who have led a... Continue reading

6. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: Is the IRS throwing in the towel on political nonprofits?

   October 16, 2012 03:00 PM

   On Monday, Politico published a powerful investigation of so-called “social welfare” groups that mislead the Internal Revenue Service about their political activities in applying to gain tax-exempt status. In 2012 alone, Politico identified more than $134 million in... Continue reading

7. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: how to expose a dishonest ‘Social Welfare’ group

   October 12, 2012 03:34 PM

   We all know that in the 2012 election season, outside groups fueled by unlimited checks from wealthy donors have been flooding America’s airwaves with campaign ads. Most of the attention in this sphere has focused on super PACs, the turbocharged... Continue reading

8. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: The strange silence on foreign policy

   October 8, 2012 10:45 AM

   In past elections, the critical threshold for presidential candidates was the commander-in-chief test: whether Americans felt they could trust them with the nuclear codes, the 3 a.m. phone calls, and the lives of troops overseas. President Obama declared in the... Continue reading

9. Swing States Project

   The Ad Wars: From every source, a different number

   October 4, 2012 11:00 AM

   Tracking campaign ads in the 2012 elections is no easy feat. Between the flurry of spots from the Obama and Romney campaigns as the presidential race enters its home stretch, and the massive expenditures by outside groups such as super... Continue reading

10. Swing States Project

    The Ad Wars: Super PACs not super? Not so fast

    September 27, 2012 11:00 AM

    On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reached a bold conclusion on one of the central debates of the 2012 elections: “Super PAC Influence Falls Short of Aims,” declared its front page, above-the-fold headline. “The flood of spending doesn’t appear... Continue reading

11. Swing States Project

    The Ad Wars: The numbers don’t add up

    September 25, 2012 03:15 PM

    An extraordinary feature of the 2012 elections has been the barrage of outside money unleashed on America’s airwaves. Deep-pocketed groups such as super PACs and nonprofits rival the campaigns themselves as sources of TV advertising, and reporters are scrambling to... Continue reading

12. Swing States Project

    The Ad Wars: How do we cover them?

    September 19, 2012 11:00 AM

    With less than two months before Election Day, America’s airwaves are under full-scale bombardment. Voters in the crucial swing states that will decide control of the White House and Congress face a fusillade of mostly negative TV ads, not only... Continue reading