Election Commerical - Research Paper Example

?ELECTION COMMERCIAL A commercial from 1980 frames Ronald Reagan as a strong leader who has a vision for world peace. In this two minute video, the narrator opens by emphasizing the shrinking hope for world peace, and the increasing risk of US involvement in the Persian Gulf due to weak leadership. The narrator repeats the words “strength”, “restraint”, and “leadership” as he introduces Reagan to the viewers, and juxtaposes Reagan with President Carter in order to show a contrast in their policies. “Peace is lost when such strength disappears,” says Reagan, as he goes on to describe his perspective on negotiating with the Soviet Union, and finally claims that “hope, confidence, and facts” are at the heart of his strategy. “The time is now,” concludes the narrator. “Reagan for president.” The feeling the video gives is split. In the opening sequence, it shows images of worrying foreigners, while the narrator speaks ominously over the droning of an air raid siren. The viewer comes to feel a sense of concern as the narrator repeats the word “slowly” while naming off conflicts that the US has been involved in, starting with Korea. It then shifts focus, using a condemning tone while mentioned countries where Carter’s foreign policy has be ineffective—“Angola, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.” This shift in focus does not outwardly suggest that Carter is to blame for the Iranian hostage crisis, nor that he will lead the US into another war. However, it surely invites the viewer to make that connection based on the flow from describing future risks to the current leader’s shortcomings. The video then transitions into a scene of Ronald Reagan giving a speech, then a television interview. This is where the mood splits, and suddenly the video presents confidence and reassurance, indicating that Reagan is the man with the answers to the problems that Carter presents. The Reagan half uses live quotations and conveys future hope and strategies, focusing on Reagan as the answer. The context of this video is a chaotic political environment, where President Jimmy Carter, the incumbent, was mired in the details and faced with a critical opponent who was quite aware of all his faults. Ronald Reagan was the two-term governor of California and former actor who faced-off against Carter in 1980. He had a fiscal reputation that would give him great appeal during the inflation problems of the time, but also used his charisma as an actor to be a confident, strong, and effective speaker who could engage listeners and convey his messages with success. While the economic issues were forefront in this election, and his plans for dealing with them well-developed, the Iranian-hostage crisis unexpectedly dominated public opinion as 53 Americans were held in captivity over the course of a year in the American embassy in Teheran. Possibly increasing the strength of his ballot, Reagan selected UN Ambassador George H.W. Bush as his running mate, and the focus of the race shifted greatly to what the Reagan-Bush ticket could do for America’s relations abroad. What was most important in 1980 was indeed US foreign policy, and this is the primary area where Carter experienced stress and criticism. Carter’s approach to foreign policy was humble and restrained, which may have been perceived as weak by some. This perception of weakness increased during the Iranian hostage crisis. Carter staged a failed rescue attempt of Americans held hostage in Teheran in April of 1980, and as a result, Americans at home grew frustrated. Elizabeth drew is quoted in a description of the political atmosphere as saying "Fairly or not, [the hostage crisis] came to symbolize the question of whether Carter was a leader, whether he was competent, whether he was strong." The issue of who could keep the peace and who was likely to let it slip away caused the election to be very close by October 1980 (Jimmy). The Iranian hostage crisis led to a severing of relations between the United States and the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran. In one ABC News online archive video (1980), President Carter is shown on national television severing US relations with Iran. The video explains the terms to include expulsion of diplomats, freezing of assets, and placement of economic sanctions. This policy has largely stayed in effect until present day, and shows the decisive action of President Carter. The Reagan campaign, therefore, had to counter Carter’s actions with criticism in order to show Reagan as the better candidate for handling such issues. The video also reveals, in Carter’s words, that the Iranian government was refusing to cooperate with the US in order to rescue the hostages, which created great complications for Carter. Another source indicates that if Carter had arranged for the release of the hostages, the Reagan campaign already had critical advertisements ready to be aired (Raines). Thus, Reagan was already offering himself as someone who could solve problems that Carter could not, but was well prepared to berate the Carter administration for using the situation for political gain during the last weeks of the election. Indeed, the main controversy of the election was Carter’s competency in foreign policy and keeping Americans safe from terror and future war. This commercial addresses exactly the issues that surrounded the political context, and was intended for the entire voter base as an audience. Reagan’s struggle was to get his reputation out among the American public, advertising himself not only to Republicans and conservatives, but also to voters who would normally vote for Carter or even be on the fence. A report on the political strategy of Reagan in the 1980 presidential election explains his specific use of “Issue of the Day” campaigning, where he’d target a specific aspect of politics and explain his position and vision for the future. Closer to election day, Reagan appeared on CBS to speak out against Carter’s defense and foreign policy decisions. He specifically spoke about the very issues he described in the aforementioned commercials, including a strategy of obtaining peace through strength. He also spoke on CBS about using bi-partisan policy, an attempt to widen his appeal to a greater audience (Covington). The intended audience, therefore, is more specifically those who doubt Carter’s ability to be a strong leader and enforce effective foreign policy. These people may be independents or Democrats who would normally support Carter’s policies, but who are frustrated by Carter’s lack of results in resolving the Iranian hostage crisis as well as the devolving relations between the US and Iran following several other tensions as mentioned in the original ad. The audience also consists of adult Americans who follow world issues and are concerned about the American image abroad, rather than those who are more concerned about the economy and what is going on at home. What is most interesting is that this video truly seeks to shake the foundations of Carter’s supporters, and gives a lengthy sample of Reagan’s viewpoint in his own words, expecting an audience that is open to alternatives after experiencing the initial criticism of Carter in the commercial’s opening. The appeals and issues addressed in the commercial are largely based on emotion. The narrator doesn’t attempting to make the viewers think about Carter’s foreign policy and analyze their effectiveness. Instead, the voice attempts to sow the seeds of doubt, causing the viewer to feel uncomfortable, pessimistic, and apprehensive. When the ad transitions to give the Reagan side of the issue, it does not try to convince the viewer using reasoning, but instead repeats emotional key words and creates a more confident, secure, and victorious atmosphere surrounding Reagan. While the first half repeats “slowly”, “weak”, and “leadership”, the second moves onto new words that represent Reagan rather than Carter. “Strength”, “peace”, “confidence”, and “hope” are the key words in the second half that are repeated by the narrator and echoed by Reagan in his speeches. The commercial polarizes its vocabulary by associating these different sets of words with the two candidates respectively. This polarization also shows that Carter and his weakness are earlier in the timeline, while later on, in the future, we see Reagan as the next step. Essentially, the ad appeals to the viewer’s confidence in leadership, and addresses the issue of Carter’s weakness by contrasting it with an attempt to emphasize Reagan’s strength. It also casts Reagan as a man of hope, as he explains the optimism he has and that America should also have, thus appealing to those who may be skeptical or hesitant to find a positive outlook in the future of foreign policy and security at home. The visual and audio aspects are also important in this ad’s effectiveness. It sometime uses video footage, and sometimes uses images, but always is showing real people. When it is not Reagan or Carter being shown, the ad shows images of others who are meant to convey a certain feeling or sensation. The use of dismayed Koreans in the opening is one already mentioned example, but later the video shows a fearful looking Iranian man, followed by an image of a stern President Carter. As the focus shifts to Reagan, it shows Reagan speaking or interacting with voters, expressing his ability to be in touch with Americans and use his own words to communicate with them. One image depicts young Americans listening to Reagan as he speaks, suggesting that America’s youth should be engaged and are a key part of his audience. Images of Reagan later in the video show him speaking again, but also working, thinking, and negotiating. These images all represent action words, and bring the viewer to remember Reagan’s ad as one that demonstrated that he is not just a politician seeking to occupy an office, but seeks to achieve through his actions. Finally, video footage shows Reagan among a lively crowd as well as US military guards. This conveys a sensation of patriotism and further charisma, and is supported by the very American scene of the Statue of Liberty in gentle light from an aerial view. These images have a similar effect to the actual subject matter of the ad. Just as the narrative has a split between the first, darker half and the second, more positive half, the images match the words and sometimes represent individual words or phrases said by the narrator. The opening images are impersonal, accusatory, and foreign, while the rest are very up close and personal and attempt to establish a sense of pride, patriotism, and comfort between the viewer and Reagan. The sound adds another aspect to the advertisement, as we notice that the first half features only the voice of the narrator against silence, stirring up emotion from the stillness. However, as the video progresses, the deep voice of the narrator that sounds so ominous is met with the relief of Reagan’s affable, reassuring tone and higher pitch. This contrast continues to occur throughout the second half, and the lighter tone brought by Reagan draws the viewer’s attention even more, as his words sound more hopeful and inspiring than the dark, anonymous voice of the narrator. The ending sequence with music helps engineer the final moment, working with the words and images to form a conclusive emotional moment. In the end of the commercial, the viewer experience positive images, positive words, and positive sounds and is encouraged to support Reagan. Thus, a complete audio and visual transition has been made from start to end, capturing the viewer’s attention and emotion along with it in a process ranging from doubt and blame to new hope and confidence. The advertisement in this sense conveys the entire message of Reagan’s campaign and what change he will bring to the country. Overall, this advertisement is indeed rhetorically effective. The two minute video does not waste a second in engaging the viewer, and does not slip into political jargon or complex arguments about why Reagan is superior to Carter, and what policies are best and worst. Instead, it relies on a very simple structure of showing Carter as the past and Reagan as the future, and uses sounds, images, and words to evoke a negative sensation in the viewer as it discusses Carter. The commercial also remains simple in having two halves, and while the first one brings the viewer down the second, Reagan’s part, comes to the rescue and inspires confidence. The video is completely devoted to causing an emotional reaction in the viewer, and manages to reference the most important political issue of the election while still appealing to feelings rather than reason. Voters are much more easily and drastically moved by emotion, and for this reason the Reagan campaign succeeded in using this advertisement to gain support for Reagan and his “peace through strength” approach to American foreign policy. Works Cited "April 7, 1980: Carter Cuts Relations with Iran Video." ABCNews.com. Web. . Covington, Cary R., Kent Kroeger, Glenn Richardson, and J. D. Woodard. "Shaping a Candidate's Image in the Press: Ronald Reagan and the 1980 Presidential Election." Political Reseach Quarterly. Sage Publications, 1993. Web. . Jimmy Carter. By Adriana Bosch. Election of 1980 - Online Special Feature. WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002. Web. . Raines, Howell. "Reagan Prepares an Attack On Carter If 52 Are Freed; Accuses Carter of Deception Reagan Camp's Confidence." NYtimes.com. The New York Times, 02 Nov. 1980. Web. . Reagan - Peace. Advertisement. The Living Room Candidate. 1980. Web. . "Ronald Reagan." Our Presidents. The White House. Web. . Read More