For over 60 years, presidential campaigns have used television ads to communicate ideas and campaign plans to the American people. With hopes of influencing people to vote, politicians have used various tactics and strategies to persuade. After observing television campaign ads throughout the years, a few themes are observed.
For the 1952 presidential election, Dwight D. Eisenhower ran against Adlai Stevenson. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a member of the Republican party, while Adlai Stevenson was a member of the Democratic party. At that point in time, America’s biggest issues revolved around social security, war, wages, and taxes. Both Eisenhower and Stevenson used television campaign ads to not only portray themselves in a certain light, but also portray their opponent in a certain negative light. These men were among the earliest to use television ads to do so, and they set a trend for years to come.
During the 1952 presidential election, Eisenhower ran against Adlai Stevenson with his vice president Richard Nixon. Together, Eisenhower and Nixon hoped to convince America that they were the best option for the job in the White House. At the time, the Korean War was going on, and World War II had
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While Eisenhower appeared in his own TV ads, Adlai Stevenson did not; he was the only candidate to not appear in his own ads. His advertisements were a bit more animated than those of Eisenhower; they often featured cartoons or short, catchy jingles. Because of the fact that Eisenhower was the better known candidate, Stevenson also made sure to get his name out there by putting his name in his own advertisements. He portrayed himself as a good, honest man that represented all American people, while he simultaneously implied that Eisenhower was a man that could not be trusted and did not care about the American
Liasson, Mara. "Do Political Ads Actually Work?" National Public Radio. NPR, 26 Oct. 2012. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.
Every four years during any US Presidential election overzealous patriotism hits an all time high, and it truly shows with the citizen turnout at the newly elected President’s inaugural ceremony. In the months leading up to election day, Presidential candidates attempt to persuade voters to cast ballots in their favor through different forms of advertising which contains strategic rhetoric and political language. Political language otherwise known as “political propaganda”, is designed to influence masses of people within a nation, and even across the globe. As Harry S. Truman stated during the National Conference on Family Life on May 6th, 1948: “the principal power that the President has is to bring people in and try to persuade them to do what they ought to do without persuasion”(Truman,Worksheet). The power that Truman spoke of is undeniable during any President’s inaugural address, which highlights the beginning of their term as the newly elected President, while addressing their plans for the people of the United States during the next four years. These addresses contain propaganda techniques that most listeners wouldn’t recognize as propaganda, including: glittering generalities, transfer, plain folks, card stacking, bandwagon, and testimonials.
Voters’ pick as to who they feel is the best candidate leans heavily towards the candidate whose face they have seen most often on television. Politician commercials are created solely to get the candidate’s face out to the public. Commercials are also geared towards making the voter feel valuable. Influenced by capitalism,
During the 1896 elections William McKinley was running against William Jennings Bryan for president (DeGregorio). McKinley won the majority of electors and entered his first term as president (Bassett). After winning over the people during the elections McKinley went straight to work by helping the people. The time when the 1896 elections were happening the United States was ongoing depression.
“The Candidate” is the prime example of how an election is ran including the campaign strategies, the media, the debates, and the arguments. While Jarmens campaigning was not completely viewed throughout the movie it was clear he knew McKay was a threat. McKay’s idea of running a campaign included his personal touches of not listening to his campaign manager. Actually listening to what the people want and what they need seems to gain their attention and vote; this is the strategy that won McKay the election.
In the video Eisenhower was never physically present asking or telling people to vote for him rather the ad had people walking saying “Ike for President”. I think he might have done this because he knew that since he was so popular that he might not have had to do as much as the other candidate. “The primaries had been split fairly evenly between the two men, and the nomination came down to the wire, but ultimately Eisenhower won the nomination based largely on the perception that he was a sure winner,” (“Dwight Eisenhower”). This was a quote from the presidential archive that kind of states that he got the change to run for presidency because of his popularity. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party asked Eisenhower to run for them in the election due to his popularity. Eisenhower went with the Republican Party because he thought of himself as more of a conservative than a liberal. This also reflected onto the actual presidency race because he won 54.9% of the popular vote. The campigan ad is much like quote, indicated that the election was solely based of
The voice of a rich popular fellow could sway opinions and a more common use was advertisments. A campaign ad. by William Henry Harrison and Tyler, bribed their voters with an endless supply of hard cider. Some campaigning strategies were widely used and effective such as; on Jackson’s democratic ballot he included the term “The People’s Ticket”, this can be a tactic used to make the public feel involved, just by this wording. One famous tactic still used to this very day was first described by a man named David Crockett. He explained the easiest way to win the heart and votes of the people. He said to kiss the children of women, make lot of promises, give long speech anytime you can, talk about your devotion to your country and its fallen soldiers. (Crockett, 1837). There were campaigns, elections, candidates...etc., but none of them would be possible without the votes of the common man. With the public becoming more involved in voting, and the popular vote coming into play, candidates cared more about general public’s views about them. Using popular media outlets and adding persuasive wording to ballots increased the common man’s
The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between the mass media, specifically television, and presidential elections. This paper will focus on the function of television in presidential elections through three main areas: exit polls, presidential debates, and spots. The focus is on television for three reasons. First, television reaches more voters than any other medium. Second, television attracts the greatest part of presidential campaign budgets. Third, television provides the candidates a good opportunity to contact the people directly. A second main theme of this paper is the role of television in presidential elections in terms of representative democracy in the United States.
Political campaigns are very significant in American politics and elections. It is the period before the electorate makes political decisions in the form of elections. The attention of the citizens towards politics intensifies as the date of the elections draws near. The salience of voters improves as the election date draws near and could manifest in the form of increased media attention. Political discussions, campaign interest, strength of the intention to vote, and knowledge about the candidates are other manifestations of increased salience of voters. Another indication of improved intensity is the effort put by the candidates and their political parties in the campaigns. Parties increase their efforts in the campaign by increasing the funds disbursed for the campaign such as increasing the amount of TV advertisement (Brady, Johnston, & Sides, 2007). The increase may also be a result of redistribution of the overall campaign amount, which increases the effect of the campaign to the media and some voters.
3. What is the goal of political ads? What are the political ads for, and who are they directed at? Give examples from the documentary. The objective of a political promotion is to bring down the qualifications of the resistance and shape the message for the voters. They are utilized to pull in voters. They are coordinated at voters. They utilize business dealings in congress, each
Election (1999) is a film is about an election at a high school for student council president. In this year’s election teacher Jim McAllister becomes irritated with the only candidate Tracy Flick, as he finds she not deserve to become president. This is partly due to the relationship Tracy had with his best friend and former colleague Dave Novotny. Tracy Flick, Paul Metzler and Jim McAllister tell the story about the election years after high school. As the teenagers tell the story while they are adults and the teacher is also an adult, the viewpoint of the movie is an adult perspective and thus not from a teenager perspective. According to Johanna Wyn Stereotypes from adults “derive more from ‘the desires, fantasies and interests of the adult
The main focus of the advertisement was the text. The text was very easy to notice with a background that appeared to be a hand-painted city of many colors. The city seemed to be something much like what one would see on a cartoon. In large, white print painted over the colorful city were the words A Voice for Working Families. By using this text the Democratic party was using honorific language (pathos). The colorful background could be interpreted as pathos by appealing to the audience visually. The text was being used as a tool to relate and speak to primarily middle Americans also known as the blue collars of society. With this text Al Gore was saying without speaking, he could relate on their level and he was willing to be their voice in government. Al Gore was using positive text by letting the Americans in the middle class know that he was taking their concerns seriously.
Individuals may believe this new exposure of political debates and facts about the candidates would help the public make an educated decision of their president. However, all of that television has done is turn the presidential debates into a popularity contest. Elections were based on image, charm and how the networks wish to have the candidates perceived. Televisions’ contribution to political debates only emphasized personality, visual image and emotion rather than ideas, issues and reason.
President Johnson once quoted, “Most senators are minnow… but Humphrey Hubert Humphrey is among the whales.”Humphrey ran for the presidential democrat nomination in the 1952 and 1956 Elections, but could not collect the votes either time, mostly because of his small budget. In 1960, Humphrey ran against JFK in the democratic primaries. Humphrey was severally outmatched. JFKs attractive siblings brought the taste of Hollywood to the voters. And father Kennedy had an essentially infinite pool of money to pull from. Hubert once conceded that “I feel like an independent merchant competing against a chain store.” Kennedy’s campaign cost 1.5 million dollars compared to a measly 23,000 from Humphrey. Kennedy won the nomination, but at the 1960 democratic convention Humphrey received 41 votes as a write
Politics have been evolving and changing since our Founding Fathers created the American government system. From the evolution to social media and television, politicians have been able to reach a broader audience through varying mediums in various ways. Though these changes have altered the political battleground over time, rhetoric and communication remains at the heart of politics. While the ways we receive this communication has progressed, the effect it has on voters has remained constant. Rhetoric and political communication showcase political awareness, party affiliation and the use of persuasion by candidates.