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Mike’s Musings: Political campaign advertising spending borders on the ridiculous

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Source: Commercial-News

One of the small pleasures of the week after an election is watching television and seeing somebody try to sell you a pickup truck again. After weeks of political ads, I’m almost happy to hear what the dealer has to say. The ad-tracking firm AdImpact put nationwide political advertising for the 2026 election cycle at $11.87 billion as of Nov. 2, the day before the election. That’s the advertising bill alone. It topped the $11.2 billion AdImpact tracked during the 2024 presidential cycle. In the final week, $869 million went toward ads in congressional and governor’s races, according to a Washington Post analysis of AdImpact data. Here in Michigan, more than $66 million went into advertising in the 7th Congressional District, setting a record for a U.S. House race, according to WKAR. I publish newspapers for a living. Selling advertising is part of how we pay for local reporting. I know what a good ad can do.

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Office Hours: Justin Patch on political advertising and social media

Image courtesy of John Abbott. Professor Justin Patch speaks for our new column, Office Hours. In my first interview for Office Hours, the new column for The Miscellany News that spotlights professors across Vassar departments, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Associate Professor and Chair of Music Justin Patch. Patch is an ethnomusicologist who has studied topics such as music in American politics, East Asian art music and the African diaspora, and sound studies. Additionally, before completing his Ph.D in ethnomusicology, Patch was a professional classical guitarist and has played at a variety of venues and festivals, including South By Southwest. Sitting in his office in Skinner Hall with his adorable dog, Darby, last Wednesday, Nov. 4, we had a fascinating conversation about music in ads, the effects of social media on politics and the commodification of identity through branding. The interview started with, as can be expected, the results from the recent Nov. 3 elections.

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