How does a candidate "approve this message"?

[ixnay]

OK, it's (midterm) election year, so this question is appropriate.

How does a candidate for office "approve" an ad? What paperwork does (s)he sign or stamp. And does the spoken "approval" have to be worded precisely per law ("I'm [candidate's name] and I approved this message") or can there be variations thereof, perhaps humorous? Just wondering?

I'm ixnay and I approved this smiley. ;D


ixnay

 

[SaltyDog]

How does a candidate for office "approve" an ad? What paperwork does (s)he sign or stamp. And does the spoken "approval" have to be worded precisely per law ("I'm [candidate's name] and I approved this message") or can there be variations thereof, perhaps humorous? Just wondering?

There is no paperwork that says it is approved. The candidate "approves" it by listening to the ad and asserting that he or she approves it. To qualify as political advertising, and therefore qualify for political rate treatment, the candidate's voice must be on the ad. The "I approved this message" is one way to do so.

 

[SirRoxalot]

It's also a way of saying that the candidate actually agrees with the ad. An old "dirty trick" is for an anti-candidate group to put out an ad that sounds like it supports the candidate, while actually putting forward positions that they think are damaging to his/her campaign. You wouldn't hear the candidates voice saying "I approve of this message" on one of those.

 

[CrankyYankee]

If memory serves me correct, the "candidtate's voice" used to make the spot qualify for political rates by simply saying, "Paid for by the committee to re-elect Senator GasBag".

Most of the announcing on political spots would be done by some "Don Pardo-type" voice and the candidate would just do the "paid for ..." part at the end.