WASHINGTON — Broadcast TV viewers in New Hampshire should recognize Hillary Clinton’s stance on gun control by now. One of every four political ads she’s aired in the state over the past month has been about tougher gun laws. ADVERTISING
WASHINGTON — Broadcast TV viewers in New Hampshire should recognize Hillary Clinton’s stance on gun control by now. One of every four political ads she’s aired in the state over the past month has been about tougher gun laws.
But in Iowa, only 1 in 17 of Clinton’s spots has featured her stance on gun control. Television viewers in the rural southeast corner of the state haven’t seen a single ad about guns from the Clinton campaign in the past month, according to an Associated Press analysis.
While the national Democratic front-runner has made gun control prominent in debates and interviews, she’s only pressing the point on broadcast TV in New Hampshire. It’s a disparity that reflects her strategy of trying to distinguish herself there from rival Bernie Sanders, who leads in polls in New Hampshire but not in Iowa, said Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa.
The AP analyzed Clinton’s television campaign ads using data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group of New York-based Kantar Media, which tracks political advertising. The data contain details on the content of ads aired on broadcast television and national cable television. Spots on local cable aren’t included.
In Iowa, Clinton’s gun-control ads have been outpaced by spots on health care, the economy, wages and student-loan debt. Over the past month, broadcast TV viewers in Iowa were 23 times more likely to see her ad on the wage gap than an ad featuring the Democratic front-runner expressing support for President Barack Obama’s stance on gun control, according to the data. Gun-control spots made up less than 6 percent of the more-than-5,100 broadcast TV ads she’s aired in Iowa over the past month.
“It may have to do with the polls and that the hunting tradition is stronger here in Iowa,” Hagle said.
Hunting license data suggest a larger share of residents hunt with firearms in Iowa than in New Hampshire. At least 1 in 15 Iowans purchased gun-hunting licenses in 2014, compared to about 1 in 27 New Hampshire residents, according to data from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Clinton spokesman Jesse Ferguson declined to discuss campaign ad strategy but said Clinton has been vocal about her position on guns.
