As the 2024 general election comes to a close, the topics of discussion have ranged from reactions to a second term for soon to be president-elect Donald Trump to the annual debate regarding the effectiveness of the electoral college. However, most people are able to agree on one point; it’s wonderful to no longer be bombarded with political ads, texts, calls, and campaign workers. 

Advertising, especially advertising for political campaigns, is to be expected. A candidate is often forced to employ costly campaigns simply so people know who they are. Yet, it seems this election in particular has not only increased the frequency of ads, but their inescapability. Those working on the campaign may text or call, knock on your door, or set up booths within communal spaces. Ads may appear as commercials on television, social media, the radio or within newspapers. Your inbox may flood with emails urging you to consider the strengths of one candidate and completely disregard the other. By the time you have sifted through each of these methods, blocked that number, deleted that email, ignored that worker, you may find yourself unable to dedicate any more thought to politics, much less who you will pick.

Ads themselves cannot win an election. A number spent on a campaign cannot predict the outcome of an election. And yet each year the ads grow longer, more aggressive, more encompassing. I myself received over 40 messages, each from a different person, regarding this year’s general election. I looked over a few and answered none of them. I would not say a single one was effective in swinging my vote. Nor were the commercials, or the posters, or even the people who spoke to me in person. They prompted me to look into things more carefully, yes, to investigate issues I did not have a clear view of the candidates’ standings on. But often upon seeing yet another ad appear before me, I felt myself souring on all candidates. If these people truly were the best people for the job, why did they have to keep reminding me of it? Were they afraid that their actions would not justify their position? Did they believe that I wasn’t paying attention, something they had made it impossible to do?

On election day, I voted for the candidate I had decided on from the beginning. The only race that I had not seen advertised was not a race at all as it only had one candidate running. I voted for them, thanking them for their silent diligence, a lesson it seemed only they had learned.