1. Fear and Loathing in Political Campaign Advertisements

2.  How does the media play a role in your life? What are your thoughts on the media? Has the media ever influenced you one way or another? Advertising? Television? Internet?

3.  If you were eligible to vote for the President of the United States; what would be some qualities/characteristics that would hope to see in our next President?  Why those qualities?  When done; make sure your campaign advisor story-board is complete.

4.  An effective campaign advertisement can change the course of a political campaign  What exactly does campaigning do? It sways opinion It makes people think It states a candidates stance It states an opponents flaws

5.  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

6.  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

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

8.  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

9.  Why use them? Research shows they work with certain segments of the population Get’s the message out there Media can do the rest.

10.  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

11.  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

12.  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

13.  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

30.  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

31.  Up until 1992, military experience…both large and small was helpful Candidates spoke to their military back ground Being a “hero” also helped  WHY? 1945-1991: Cold War 1991-Present: Terrorism/Middle East Oh yeah…called “Commander and Chief” for a reason

32. 26 TH PRESIDENTSAN JUAN HILL

33. 34 TH PRESIDENT GEN. US ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II: COMMANDER OF ALLIED FORCES EUROPE

34. 35 TH PRESIDENT LT. DURING WORLD WAR II: PT 109

35. 36 TH PRESIDENT LT. US NAVAL RESERVE DURING WORLD WAR II: 1 COMBAT MISSION?

36. 37 TH PRESIDENT LT. CM. US NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II

37. 38 TH PRESIDENT LT. US NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II

38. 39 TH PRESIDENT LT. US NAVY SERVED ON SUBMARINES DURING WORLD WAR II

39. 40 TH PRESIDENT LT. US ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II

40. 41 ST PRESIDENT LT. US NAVY PILOT DURING WORLD WAR II: 58 COMBAT MISSIONS

41. 42 ND PRESIDENT ORGANIZED AN ANTI-WAR UNION WHILE IN COLLEGE

42. 43 RD PRESIDENT LT. TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD DURING VIETNAM: STATIONED IN US

43. 44 TH PRESIDENT TOO YOUNG FOR VIETNAM: COLLEGE STUDENT

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

47.  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…

56.  Gerald Ford University of Michigan Linebacker Two Time National Champion

57.  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

63. #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!!!

68.  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

71.  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….

72.  At the bottom of your notes, write a 2-3 sentence response: Which political ad technique (positive or negative) would you say is most effective in influencing potential voters? Why?

73.  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!!!