Michael J. Fox ad has an impact

October 26, 2006

I knew the Michael J. Fox ad was powerful, but I may have underestimated its punch.

A new national study revealed that American voters’ support for stem cell research increased after they viewed an ad featuring Michael J. Fox in which he expresses his support for candidates who are in favor of stem cell research.

The study was conducted among 955 Americans by HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) during October 24-25, to obtain Americans’ views on the stem cell research before and after they watched the ad.

I haven’t seen the poll internals, and I’m not quite clear on the methodology, but as I understand it, this survey was conducted with a group of random voters to gauge their opinions before and after having seen the Fox ad. I think it’s safe to say people were affected by it.

* Among all respondents, support for stem cell research increased from 78% prior to viewing the ad, to 83% after viewing the ad.

* The level of concern regarding a candidate’s view on stem cell research increased among all respondents from 57% prior to viewing the ad to 70% after viewing the ad.

* The perception that the November election is relevant to the U.S. policy on stem cell research increased across all voter segments, with an increase of 9% among all respondents pre- and post-viewing from 62% to 71%.

* Respondents were asked to indicate what candidate they would vote for in the U.S. House of Representatives election if it was held today before and after viewing the ad. Republicans who indicated that they were voting for a Republican candidate decreased by 10% after viewing the ad (77% to 67%). Independents planning to vote for Democrats increased by 10%, from 39% to 49%.

Keep in mind, this isn’t a poll of the whole country; it’s a survey done specifically of people shown the ad as part of a market-research-style poll. Nevertheless, the results suggest people clearly respond well after having seen the ad, Rush Limbaugh notwithstanding.

Now, if Fox wouldn’t mind, can we get his ad up in every anti-stem-cell-research Republican in the country? I’d gladly chip in….

Has it moved the numbers in the senate race in MO?

If not, generic “impact” numbers means squat.

  • Aaron–
    The last one I saw had McCaskill up by about 2%.

    On the bright side, however, I did convince a co-worker to vote for McCaskill. She said tht she saw Talent as the “lesser of two evils.” I gave her a link to a campaign ad Talent is running that’s false, some info on him voting for torture and the removal of habeus corpus, and a few others.

    It may be only one vote, but all of them are going to matter.

  • Why did the opponents of stem cell research use three healthy celebs in their commericial?

    Would it not have more emotional impact to find three folks with Parkinsons who have the moral fortitude to say “I am so opposed to Stem Cell Research that I would not use the cure if the science found one”?

  • “Republicans who indicated that they were voting for a Republican candidate decreased by 10% after viewing the ad (77% to 67%).”

    Is there anything more pleasant than the sound of a Republican’t party pulling the trigger to the Russian Roulet Revolver they’ve been holding to their head for the last four decades and finally hitting the bullet 😉

    They just can’t please both the Libertarian and Theocratic Reactionary wings of their party at the same time.

    And to think I’ve never really like Michael J. Fox.

  • Thanks to Michael J. for having the bravery to expose himself to such harsh public scrutiny, not to be a victim, but to use his voice for what he thinks is right. He’s taken a lot of hits and been dragged through the mud by fools when it would been a lot safer and comfortable to not suffer their slings and arrows.

    We may not have to deal with car bombings interfering with our electoral process, but MJF reminds us it still is an act of courage to speak publicly and honestly about our beliefs and to act on those beliefs.

  • One of these days someone will find a therapy which involves stem cells that really works, and then the Republicans will be up the creek. They’ll do the mother of all flip-flops or fade into obscurity once it’s demonstrated that you can save lives with cells from eggs that otherwise will be left to die in a test tube.

    I like to ask the fundies how many eggs they’ve adopted, and how many fertility clinics they’ve picketed. Save the embryos!

  • Unholy Moses writes:

    “On the bright side, however, I did convince a co-worker to vote for McCaskill”

    I wish I knew how you did that – one of my co-workers voted for Dubya the last two elections & the other day at lunch she was saying something about what he had done in Richmond when he was campaigning with the ‘other’ George & how he looked like an idiot. I said ‘You’re the one who voted for him!’ & she agreed & said she’d still vote Republican next time.

    I guess I’m just not big on banging my head against a wall…

  • The numbers say it all. Add to Democratic voters a 33% share of republicans, and a 49% share of Indies, and “visions of neocons, donning their flotation devices and mustering to the lifeboat stations” come to mind.

    Unfortunately, they left port without the lifeboats. They have this affinity for “not seeing the need for lifesaving devices,” you know. Things like body armor…functional levees…proven military stategies….

  • Dan, good point. Wonder what the common theme is between the three celebrities. My guess it is some sort of fundamental christian orthodoxy that opposes abortion in all cases and cannot manage to use their God-given grey matter to rationally differentiate between the issues.

    I was pulling for the Cardinals, but after that add I am a Tiger fan. It would be interesting if, heaven forbid, Suppan got hit in the head with a line drive (or the steroids he could be using) affected his brain function and that stem cell research was his only hope of recovering full brain capacity. Wonder which side he would be on then.

  • Kathy-
    It depends on the person.

    If she is the logical sort, send her links of facts that show how voting for the GOP is against her best interests.

    If she is the emotional sort, have her look at the Fox ad and how Talent is opposed to certain types of research that could help him.

    If she is the religious sort, show her how the GOP is NOT the party of Christian values (torture, due process, helping the poor, etc.).

    If none of those work, shoot her for the betterment of all humankind.

    Okay … so the last one was a joke. But I think you get the point.

    🙂

  • Dan, my guess would be money or the chance to get in front of a camera (yet again). I’m sure the folks appearing in it will be asked about this. Or perhaps since they talk about cloning instead of SCR they are supposed to be examples of people you wouldn’t want cloned?

    That makes a little bit of sense.

  • It is truly devastating to watch this ad. It is quite effective.

    Hannity and Limbaugh are nearly apoplectic about it. They cannot stop taling about the MJF ad. I can only assume that they are convinced that it is effective, because they both sound so mean spritited and stupid. Or rather more so than ususal.

  • Michael J Fox, as shown on Keith Olberman, also did an ad for Arlen Specter, also because the Senator supports stem cell research.

    Should make it hard for the monkeys to scream that it is partisan politics but alas, not much stops the monkeys.

  • And I’m amazed that no one has posted on this latest tectonic upheaval for the GOP. It gets worse than Mark Foley, believe me, folks. Even Foley never did this.

    A federal judge just released the Abu Ghraib rape photos that the WH tried to block. And Goddamned, I thought the ones I’ve seen already were horrific but even these electronically altered pictures are the worst that I have seen.

    I hear the videos are even worse.

  • I’m mystified by some of the media reaction to the Fox/Limbaugh controversy. Some news reports (e.g. a piece Washington Post’s site) have suggested that Limbaugh was making a valid argument when accusing Fox of faking. And, yesterday, NPR ran a piece on negative advertising [Elections Loom; Now Is the Time for Negative Ads] that features only two examples of “shocking” negative ads–the blatantly racist RNC ad run against Harold Ford and Fox’s stem cell spot. How could you possibly put the two in the same category? What is “negative” about Fox’s ad?

  • Michael J Fox, as shown on Keith Olberman, also did an ad for Arlen Specter, also because the Senator supports stem cell research.

    Should make it hard for the monkeys to scream that it is partisan politics but alas, not much stops the monkeys.

    Apparently there is an in-studio camera so you can watch Rush Limbaugh screech and jabber into the microphone like a drug-addicted, impotent monkey. Olberman has the video of Limbaugh “acting” like Fox when he accuses him of being “off his meds.” The comments were bad, the jerky motions make it much, much worse.

  • “A new national study revealed that American voters’ support for stem cell research increased after they viewed an ad featuring Michael J. Fox in which he expresses his support for candidates who are in favor of stem cell research.”

    All the more reason to make an ad which shows — in gruesome, up-close-and-personal detail — what waterboarding is (as someone suggested on the Cheney thread earlier)

  • Another sadder part to the obvious (upside, more awareness, downside, the plain nastiness of the anti-stem folk) is this…

    Americans no understand words…words not picture, picture big magic!

    I mean what kind of a country is this where as long as there are no pictures of say torture, war, caskets, a HUGE margin of the US can read about it, and has not got the imagination (robbed by mindless TV I think) to IMAGINE and sypathize with it.

    So Stem-Cell is just some fancy hyphenated word, and conjures up killing and Frankenstein…UNTIL they actually see ONE PERSON that it might help, and suddenly they develop empathy.

    No wonder this country is going to the dogs. Reading comprehension (and practice at actually reading) can help a lot.

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