Oklahoma Political Ad Archive Spans 80 Years Of Mud Slinging

Published October 4, 2016 at 12:40 PM CDT

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This Aug. 30, 2004 file photo shows Democractic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as he windsurfs off the coast of Nantucket, Mass. Video of Kerry windsurfing was used in a political advertisement during his race against Republican President George W. Bush in 2004. (Laura Rauch/AP)

This year’s campaign ads might seem negative, but archivists at the Julian Kanter Political Commercial Archive at the University of Oklahoma say that’s nothing new.

The country’s largest archive of political ads includes more than 160,000 local, state and national campaign advertisements going back to 1936.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young visited the archive to find out more about the history of political ads and how they relate to the current campaign.

Ads From The Segment

[Youtube]

Guests

Lisa Henry, curator at the Julian Kanter Political Commerical Political Archive. The archive tweets @oupoliticalsage.

Patrick Meirick, director of the Political Communication Center at the archive.

David Bass, media specialist at the archive.