With the November election still months away, a new poll shows that voters in battleground states like Ohio and Michigan are noticing campaign TV ads more than their counterparts in other states.
The USA Today-Gallup survey shows that 82 percent of voters in 12 swing states say they've seen a campaign ad on television. That's 20 percent more than reported by voters in non-battleground states. In those swing states, 69 percent of voters say they've seen a negative TV ad targeting President Obama, while 63 percent have seen a negative ad attacking Mitt Romney.
And how much influence do these ads have over swing state voters? Among those who said they changed their mind about a candidate after hearing ads, 76 now support Obama compared to 16 who now favor Romney.
"We gave them new information," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina told USA Today. "Romney had been out there claiming success as governor," but Democratic ads have prompted voters to "take a look at his record" on job creation and as head of the private-equity firm Bain Capital.
The poll also reveals that swing state voters remember negative ads the most. Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported seeing negative ads about Romney and 70 percent remembered ones about Obama.
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