The aim of this article is to analyze the communication strategies of presidential candidates during the elections held in 2006 and 2010. The focus is on the strategic component of electoral spots and the methodology consists of investigating how candidates choose to distribute negative spots in the programming of television networks. The results indicate that the candidates pursue different strategies influenced basically by three variables: electoral legislation, their standing in polls and the difference of resources available. In parallel, the article debates the role of the regulation of electoral advertising and how this set of rules influences the level of information of campaigns, the occurrence of attacks, and party strategies. Overall, 2,993 electoral inserts were examined.
