Michael Franz
President Obama’s first “on-air offensive” of the 2012 campaign (an ad buy of about $1.4 million targeting 25 media markets in six swing states) reveals more than what the ads themselves attempt to tell viewers — about his record on ethics reform and investments in the green energy economy.
“Advertising market placement is like a tell, and it is clear that the Obama campaign views these battleground states as most important at this stage of the game,” says Associate Professor of Government Michael Franz in an ABC News story, which cites research compiled by the Wesleyan Media Project, of which Franz is co-director.
The Wesleyan Media Project, funded by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Wesleyan University, was established to track advertising in federal elections. Read the latest WMP news release, “Outside Group Involvement in GOP Contest Skyrockets Compared to 2008.”
Franz is co-author of Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering (3rd ed.), which delves into how recent reforms and campaign finance laws have substantially changed the roles interest groups play and how these changes are affecting the 2012 elections.
Sorry for the ignorance, but what does “like a tell” mean?
In poker-speak, a “tell” is a non-verbal indicator of what you really have in your hand.
Of course, really good poker players can use their “tells” to fake out the opposition.