Throughout election season, political advertisements from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump dominated websites and social media platforms like YouTube and Snapchat. Both campaigns relied heavily on emotional appeal, and while political ads are filled with enticing promises and harsh criticisms for the opposing candidate, they lack what voters need most: a clear, sustainable and long-term strategy. To form a more informed electoral body, political campaigns should provide detailed, realistic plans alongside their rhetoric.
Political ads are designed to attract and persuade voters using enticement and fear. The Harris and Trump campaigns are no exception, manipulating the viewer’s pathos while undermining the other’s policies. In the Harris ad “You Will Be Protected,” the emotional narrative centers around a Texan woman named Ondrea and her near-death experience due to restrictive abortion laws. The ad contrasts Ondrea’s harrowing personal accounts with quotations from Trump, overlaying his words with images of surgical scars, hospital visits and a family in disarray. As Trump pledges that “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free,” the audience is compelled to acknowledge the dramatic irony the campaign ad employs. Trump is framed as a hypocrite and the juxtaposition appeals directly to voters’ fears surrounding the loss of healthcare agency and bodily autonomy.
With reproductive rights as a main focus of her campaign, Harris has delivered bold promises surrounding healthcare, vowing to eliminate the U.S. Senate filibuster to codify the right to an abortion into federal law and thus overriding state laws prohibiting abortion services. However, she has yet to provide key details on how she plans to accomplish this feat. Eliminating the filibuster is ambitious and requires 60 Senate votes, a task that has been difficult even for previous Democratic majorities. Without a detailed strategy for achieving legislative change, her promise is another emotionally driven pledge without any backing.
Similar to Harris, the Trump campaign has launched a series of negative ads that manipulate emotions, overpromise policy changes and underdeliver on those guarantees. One of his advertisements on immigration includes shocking statistics, claiming that there have been “10 million illegal border crossings” and “250,ooo fentanyl-related overdose deaths,” which creates a sense of crisis. The most important message from the ad is emphasizing Harris’ role as “America’s border czar,” and blaming her for policy shortcomings and the supposed failure of the immigration system. Further, during a Colorado rally, Trump promised to deport every illegal immigrant in the country, yet has not presented a plan that addresses all of the legal and fiscal realities of that sweeping action. This promise is reminiscent of his first term, where he claimed that his administration would build a wall and deport all immigrants living in the United States illegally. He failed to accomplish both tasks: Only part of the wall was built, and immigrants still remained in the country illegally at the close of his presidency, angering his own supporters.
Presidential candidates failing to deliver long-term solutions is not a recent phenomenon. During former President George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign, he famously used the slogan “Read my lips: No new taxes.” This mantra was a strategic emotional appeal aimed at securing support from anti-tax conservatives who never trusted him. However, in 1990, due to the growing national budget deficit, Bush was forced to sign a deal that raised taxes, resulting in a feeling of betrayal from Republicans that ultimately ended in his failure to be re-elected. Another example would be former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to reform healthcare, specifically with the Affordable Care Act, known colloquially as Obamacare. Although the plan ultimately expanded healthcare coverage, it fell short of expectations, increasing premiums and costing taxpayers more than anticipated. To reassure voters who were anxious about potential changes to their healthcare, Obama famously said, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it,” but the line was later named Politifact’s 2013 “Lie of the Year.”
Presidential promises highlight a troubling pattern: In order to sway voters, candidates focus on emotional manipulation, short-term incentives and shock value over long-term stability. The 2024 presidential election has seen a record high in advertising spending, with projections of up to $12 billion in spending before Election Day. Although Harris over doubles Trump in spending — $456.3 million versus $204.3 million — both have spent large portions of campaign funds on advertising. Despite these massive expenditures, political ads often lack substance, exaggerating and oversimplifying complex issues. Thus, it is crucial that more effort is invested in a shift from emotional appeals to practical, long-term strategies. By making this effort, voters are not disillusioned by false promises and can trust political candidates.
As voters, we cannot blindly trust the rhetoric of our preferred political figure. We must critically scrutinize ads, not only asking what will be done but how it will be done. Political promises should be the foundation of trust and now is the time to hold our elected officials accountable, ensuring they honor their campaign promises. Let’s keep the pressure up by following reputable news sources, writing to Congress, reaching out to local representatives and voting in midterms. Democracy thrives when the people in power cannot ignore our voices.
Contact Cayden Xia (26Ox) at cayden.xia@emory.edu.
