Random telephone surveys in a northern and a southern city were initiated to determine attitudes toward "informative" and "direct reference" mass media political advertisements. Responses were organized in regional, social, and racial categories. The results quantified reactions to the two types of political messages of blacks and whites from various socioeconomic levels in the North and the South. Statistical analysis of the responses indicated that the strictly informative advertisements were favored by a majority of the respondents over messages which attacked political opponents. However, whites were more tolerant of direct reference (attacking) advertisements than blacks, and southerners objected less to aggressive messages than did northerners. It was concluded, however, that attitudes toward types of political advertisements cannot be best appraised on regional, social, or racial grounds without consideration of the complete value systems held by individual respondents. (CH)