Gubernatorial race ads remain positive - for now - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Indiana voters will elect a new governor this fall and so far the main candidates have sent out nothing but positive messages. But there's a rule of thumb in politics - most voters don't really pay attention to campaigns until after Labor Day.

So will the positive tone continue through November?

Current ads show sunrise in Indiana, flags waving, small children with big dreams - the Hoosier spirit on display. You could sell almost anything with images like these. The main candidates for Indiana governor hope the ads make you buy into them.

"As far as the Gregg campaign is concerned, we're going to make sure people know and understand John and what he's going to do for Indiana," said Daniel Altman, a spokesman for Democratic candidate John Gregg.

"Mike Pence has made a very conscious effort so far to tell people who he is and tell people what's important to him," said Pence spokesperson Christy Denault.

Right now, the campaign is all about "retail politics" - shaking as many hands as possible and meeting Hoosiers where they live.

But it's early.

While the road to the Statehouse is a mostly positive one at this point, Indiana history tells us it won't stay that way through November.

Candidates for governor have used negative campaign ads for decades.

"The consultants tell them that they work and, in many cases, they do," said political analyst Brian Howey.

Like in 1996, when Frank O'Bannon made up a huge deficit against Steve Goldsmith with dead fish.

That was after an awkward public moment when Goldsmith tried to get O'Bannon to agree to keep the campaign positive.

Current candidate Mike Pence swore off negative ads 20 years ago after he lost an especially negative congressional race. In an essay titled "Confessions of a Negative Campaigner," for the Indiana Policy Review, Pence wrote, "It is wrong...to squander a candidate's priceless moment in history...on partisan bickering."

His campaign says it's committed to that ideal.

"Mike has said that many times, campaigns should be about who the candidate is - and what he believes in - and not about negative personal attacks," said Denault.

The Gregg campaign says it won't go negative, either, but you can read between the lines. Altman says Gregg plans to educate Hoosiers on their choices.

"If Congressman Pence thinks that talking about his record is negative, well, that probably tells you more about what he's been doing in his last 12 years in Congress than anything we could say," he said.

Translation: According to analysts, negative ads are likely coming to this campaign.

They look for Gregg to try to use the unpopularity of Congress against Pence and for Pence to bring up some of the unpopular ideas Gregg supported when he was Speaker of the House in Indiana.