Ohio voters inundated with campaign ads, robocalls and volunteer visits
CLEVELAND -- In the courtship of Ohio, many voters want a restraining order.
On average throughout the state, an ad for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton runs on local television every three minutes.
CBS News spoke with two Ohio voters, Linda Merrian and Batti Drake, about their experience this election season.
“Overwhelming with ads. Overwhelming with calls. Overwhelming with non-stop political stuff,” said Merrian, a registered independent.
If she wakes up at 7:00 am, Drake estimated she would see her first ad of the day by 7:03.
Since June, both presidential campaigns have spent more than $32 million on television ads in Ohio.
And many Ohioans have stopped answering the door, and the phone.
Drake said she gets a number of calls every day from phone numbers she doesn’t recognize. They are campaign robocalls.
During the conversation, as if right on cue, the phone rings. Drake thinks it was yet another robocall.
Professor Justin Buchler, who teaches political science at Case-Western Reserve University, says the kind of ad blitz happening in Ohio does not work.
“When you see as many ads as voters from Ohio see, the marginal benefit of every additional ad is basically nothing,” he said.
Drake will vote for Trump, while Merrian says she is undecided.
Nothing in any of the ads has changed either of their minds.
“It’s a lot of noise for nothing,” Drake agreed.
Noise that no one in Ohio can muffle until next Tuesday.