Fear and Loathing in Political Campaign Advertisements

 An effective campaign advertisement can change the course of a political campaign It sways opinion It makes people think It states a candidates stance It states an opponents flaws

 Tell a simple story  Make the desired call to action  Use basic emotional appeals  Use easy arguments  Show, not tell  Use symbolic images and messages to relate to the sense  Match what viewers see and hear  Scene’s with impact  Allow the power of video to speak for itself  Use of identifiable music always helps

 Issue Based Ad’s are just that…advertisements that address the issues of the campaign Today it is hard to tell the difference between Issue Based, Negative, and Positive All three are used

 Positive advertisements are advertisements that focus on a candidates positive attributes Rarely if ever do they speak nice of another candidate

 Negative advertisements are always a part of any political campaign Negative ad’s attack an opponent  Their stance on issues  Their previous actions on issues  Or the person themselves

 Why use them? Research shows they work with certain segments of the population Get’s the message out there Media can do the rest  Fodder for the talking heads  Find truth or focus on the negative

 Research shows that “Truth” is not a major factor in negative ad’s  Ad’s usually use “twisted truth”  How do they get away with it? Enough “truth” so it’s not a total lie Most people don’t know the truth Most people don’t care what the truth is

 Words/phrases used by McCain about Obama in his ad’s “Dangerous, Not Truthful, Hypocrite, disrespectful, not ready to lead.”  Meaning – too young, no experience, equating Obama with radical friends/acquaintances  Words/phrases used by Obama about McCain in his ad’s “Out of Touch, No maverick, same failed policies, just doesn’t get it”  Meaning- too old, equating McCain with Bush

 Money can and usually does determine an election  Why? Money to pay for advertising  More commercials, posters, media exposure gets the candidates name out there  2008 $5.3 billion spent on the campaign $2.6 billion spent on advertisements  $240 million by Obama  $123 million by McCain  The rest by special interest groups Just imagine what better use that money could have gone to

 Groups that back a candidate they feel will support their interests if elected Campaign finance changes  Limited the money candidates could receive and spend  Special interest groups now make up the lost money  Most Famous 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth  Ran numerous ad’s against John Kerry and helped Bush

 Advertisements can say so much They tell you why you should vote for someone They tell you why you shouldn’t vote for someone They also tell you about a candidate

 Up until 1992, military experience…both large and small was helpful Candidates spoke to their military back ground Being a “hero” also helped  WHY? : Cold War 1991-Present: Terrorism/Middle East Oh yeah…called “Commander and Chief” for a reason

26 TH PRESIDENTSAN JUAN HILL

34 TH PRESIDENT GEN. US ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II: COMMANDER OF ALLIED FORCES EUROPE

35 TH PRESIDENT LT. DURING WORLD WAR II: PT 109

36 TH PRESIDENT LT. US NAVAL RESERVE DURING WORLD WAR II: 1 COMBAT MISSION?

37 TH PRESIDENT LT. CM. US NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II

38 TH PRESIDENT LT. US NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II

39 TH PRESIDENT LT. US NAVY SERVED ON SUBMARINES DURING WORLD WAR II

40 TH PRESIDENT LT. US ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II

41 ST PRESIDENT LT. US NAVY PILOT DURING WORLD WAR II: 58 COMBAT MISSIONS

42 ND PRESIDENT ORGANIZED AN ANTI-WAR UNION WHILE IN COLLEGE

43 RD PRESIDENT LT. TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD DURING VIETNAM: STATIONED IN US

44 TH PRESIDENT TOO YOUNG FOR VIETNAM: COLLEGE STUDENT

 Some candidates with strong military backgrounds fall short Why?  Vietnam Vets: Not a popular war  “Hero” with post war backgrounds that didn’t match

 The image of a candidate is extremely important The ability to relate to the “Average Joe” goes a long way American idea’s are always a plus  Certain Images speak to the history/culture/ideas of America  None better than the…

 Gerald Ford University of Michigan Linebacker Two Time National Champion

 Reagan, an actor played the role of George Gipp in the movie “Knute Rockne: All American” The famous line “Win one for the Gipper” was used by Reagan in 1980

#1 question of 2004 election between Bush and Kerry: “Which one would you rather have a beer with?”  Bush 35%  Bill Clinton: 34%  Osama bin Laden: 7%  Suddam Hussien: 3%  John Kerry: 2%  The Guy LOST to SADDAM AND OSAMA!!!

 Today one of the worst images a candidate can have is that of an elitist Someone wealthy and out of touch with “Average Joe” America

 To say that presidential elections are nothing more than a popularity contest isn’t too far off the mark  2004 Pew Research Question: “Who’s More Likeable Bush or Kerry?”  Bush: 56%  Kerry: 34%  At the time of the poll Bush’s national approval rating was at 43%  And lets not forget where this started….

 1960 Kennedy/Nixon Debate Those who watched on television said Kennedy won Those who heard it on the radio said Nixon won  Downside for Nixon…80 million watched it…9 million listened to it!!!