The Eight Magic Words cannot be used in issue advertisements in the United States. The Eight Magic Words are banned from use to reduce political slander from directly influencing voting, and to reduce the direct involvement in campaigns by political parties and other independent groups.

The eight magic words are "vote for," "elect," "support", "cast your ballot for", "Smith for Congress", "vote against", "defeat", "reject", or any variations thereof. These words directly advocate support or rejection of a specific candidate, and are therefore forbidden under the 1976 Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 decision Buckley v. Valeo

Buckley v. Valeo

Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law...

.

However, an advertisement could go something like this: John Smith is an honest man who stands up for the people. Bill Jones is a chronic liar who's taken money from special interests and advocated cutting Social Security. Call Bill Jones and tell him how you feel about this.

External links

• Issue Advocacy Advertising During the 1996 Campaign