Obama and Romney Campaigns - Assignment Example

Obama and Romney campaigns Assignments I The image portrays a smiling President Obama. Above the image there are some inscribed texts indicating that President Obama is the only candidate in the 2012 USA presidential elections who is fighting for the middle class. Additionally, there is more text on the upper end of the poster that carries the names of Obama and Biden. The producers of this campaign poster simply wanted to market President Obama as a President who has the interest of the middle class at heart. The essence of this message as created by the producers of the poster is to appeal to the wider American population interests, owing to the fact that America comprises of a huge population of the middle class citizens. The poster ad might not be very effective, since it is specifically targeted at the middle class, while negating all the other American economic classes. The image portrays President Obama smiling. The campaign poster has rows of texts that are inscribed atop of the image of President Obama, carrying different messages. The text on the first row states that because of Barack Obama, the combat mission in Iraq ended. The other texts states that it is because of Barack Obama that ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ is now history. There are also other texts stating that because of Barack Obama, there is a first Latina is in Supreme Court, while 32 million people will benefit from healthcare. The producer of this campaign poster targeted to deliver a message on the achievements that President Obama had made during his first term in office, and thus lure the voters into voting him once again back to office. The poster Ad is effective since it highlights some of the achievements that cannot be associated with any other USA president who served before, such as nominating the first Latina to the Supreme Court. The image is that of a Mitt Romney campaign Ad that does not carry his image, but only texts that are inscribed on a black-poster background. The texts on the poster are to the effect that there are still over 20 million young people in America who are still living with their parents. The other texts state that it’s the voters’ choice to move in with the parents or to take up one of 12 million new job opportunities. The producer of this poster Ad is specifically ridiculing the first term presidency of President Obama. The intent of the producer of the poster Ad is to show that President Obama is incapable of creating job opportunities for the young Americans. Thus, the Ad gives the young people a choice in Mitt Romney as the solution to their unemployment. The campaign Ad is effective, since it applies very persuasive language that ultimately appeals to the highest percentage of the unemployed American young people. This campaign poster carries a message regarding Mitt Romney, but does not carry his image. The poster Ad carries a message that it is time to restore the American optimism with Romney. The poster Ad also carries information regarding the Romney campaign website; MittRomney.com. The producer of this campaign Ad was targeting the Americans that affected by the hard economic times, with a message of hope that optimism will be restored back with Romney. The producer of the campaign poster also wants the voters to visit the Romney campaign website and learn more about the plans that Romney has for restoring the optimism of Americans. The poster Ad is effective, since it does not only speak to the Americans who may have lost hope of a better future during the first term of Obama presidency, but also offer an opportunity for people to learn Mitt Romney’s plans to restore the hope, from his campaign website. Assignments II Florida Income Median household income- $46,036 Percentage below poverty level- 16.3% Education Secondary: 71%, Post Secondary education-14.5% Ethnicity/Race: Statewide Percentages of ethnic groups White Black Asian Natives Hispanic & Latino 80.5% 12.5% 1.9% 0.3% 3.4% Source: Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Florida Population Studies. 2014. University of Florida. Age Voting population, by generation) 20-34- 12.2% 35-54-27.6% 55-69-17.5% 70+-12.2% Gender Female 53% Male 44% Source: http://floridavoterfile.com/statistics/FLORIDA.HTM Ohio Income Median household income- $48,081 Percentage below poverty level- 15.8% Education Secondary: 80%, Post Secondary education-7.8% Ethnicity/Race: Statewide Percentages of ethnic groups White Black Asian Natives Hispanic & Latino 82.7% 12.2% 1.7% 0.2% 2.1% Age Voting population, by generation) 20-34- 13% 35-54-27.5% 55-69-18.9% 70+- 14.1% Source: http://www.infoplease.com/us/census/data/ohio/demographic.html Gender Female 51.1% Male 48.9% Source: http://development.ohio.gov/files/research/P7001.pdf Assignments III: Memo To: Candidate Smith FROM: (your name and job title) DATE: February 4, 2015 SUBJECT: Getting ready for the 2016 Presidential election Opening segment The purpose of this memo is to help you prepare adequately for the 2016 USA Presidential elections. The memo has been formulated in recognition of the fact that there are numerous factors that are in play in determining the candidate who wins in the presidential elections. Some of these factors include the effectiveness of the political campaigns and the appropriateness of the political commercials that a presidential candidate formulates to deliver his ideologies. Most specifically, this memo seeks to address the issue of the formulation of appropriate political commercials and that of effective campaigning, notably in the swing states. Such swing states play an important role in delivering victory to a candidate who may not have garnered enough votes in either the democrat or the Republican states. Context Research has indicated that the presidential campaign strategy is an essential factor in determining the outcome of the presidential elections in the USA1. Consequently, the presidential candidate must employ the most effective strategies that will lure the populace, and most especially the undecided voter into buying into his/her ideologies. Key among these strategies is the manner in which the political commercials are formulated and worded for the target audience2. In addition, it is prudent to understand the swing states to target based on their voter population and their economic situation, since such factors might determine the candidate that the swing vote will favor in the elections. Task Segment You asked that I help you in getting ready for the 2016 presidential elections. To be able to offer meaningful contribution towards assisting you prepare adequately for the presidential elections, I will mainly focus on two important issues in the presidential elections. First, I will address the need for an effective political commercial formulation for any presidential candidate, since the political commercial acts as the main tool through which the candidate sells out his/her ideologies to the voters. Secondly, I will address the issue of understanding the relevance of the swing states, and how to evaluate their contribution towards swaying the presidential election vote in a given direction. Discussion To start with, let us first ask ourselves what made President Obama so successful in the 2012 Presidential Election. The answer to this question can be simply limited to a single sentence; he spoke to the voting bloc that actually mattered in his political commercials. Why so? If we may take time to consider the economic situation of the USA, where does a majority of the American voters fall among the high-income class, the middle-class and the low-income class? Without a blink of the eye, it can easily be said that the middle-income class forms the majority of the USA voters, since they are the category that is well educated and contributes greatly to the economy of the nation. Most of the middle class Americans are workers in different ranks of the corporate and government organizations, and therefore showing interest in their welfare has a great impact on the way the overall vote outcome is likely to be. President Obama seemed to have understood this principle better than his competitor in the 2012 presidential elections, Mitt Romney. For example, in the 2012 USA presidential election, President Obama’s strategy was to appeal to the USA middle class, owing to the fact that his competitor, Mitt Romney was greatly perceived to be promoting ideologies that were favorable to the high-income class, while negating the interests of the middle and the low-income class earners. Consequently, one of President Obama’s campaign posters was formulated to appeal to the middle class, which is of course an important voting bloc in the USA in terms of population, compared to the high-income class. The advertisement campaign clearly stated” President Obama is the only candidate fighting for the middle class”. This political commercial strategy was essential for the victory in the elections, owing to the fact that most of the middle class favored President Obama over Mitt Romney, due to selling ideologies that seemed favorable to the middle class and the average American. Therefore, the formulation of the political commercials, whether in print or in mass media, is essential in determining the manner of delivery of the intended message to the voting bloc that matters most in deciding an election outcome. Secondly, the selection of the issue that the political commercials will address is also significant, if the political commercial is to impact on the voters by persuading them to buy into the ideologies of a presidential candidate. In this respect, President Obama was able to address the real issues as opposed to ideal ones, through the formulation of another campaign poster that addressed the problems that President Obama had helped resolve during his first term of the presidency. The campaign poster sent a message that it is through President Obama that the combat mission in Iraq, which had angered many Americans was brought to an end. In addition, the campaign poster also stated that through President Obama’s Medicare plan, 32 million people will benefit from healthcare. It is the ability to strategize on addressing real issues that affects the common American that President Obama was able to sell his ideologies better and thus won in the 2012 presidential election. Finally, understanding the demography of the swing states is also an important strategy towards winning the presidential election. There is a need to understand the population of the voters in each swing vote, the age group of the voters and the average levels of household incomes. Such factors are essential in enabling a presidential candidate formulate the right agendas for the voters in such states. For example, Ohio and Florida are swing states with relatively a highly educated voter population, considering that 71% of the population in Florida has completed high school, while 80% of the voters in Ohio have also completed high school education3. This is an indication that such swing states have a population that understands issues of politics and economy, thus require the formulation of political commercials that speaks to both political and economic agendas that will persuade the voters. Further, the two swing states of Ohio and Florida have a comparatively sizeable African American population, with Florida having a population of 12.5%4 Blacks and Ohio having a population of 12.2% blacks5. This means that such swing states are highly likely to be persuaded by President Obama, if ethnicity is anything to go by. Closing Having asked to be enlightened on how to get ready for the 2016 USA presidential elections, the insights above are some of the issues you should consider as a preliminary for adequate preparation. However, I will be glad to discuss more and elaborate on the other essentials of adequate preparations in the subsequent meetings that we shall schedule after you receive this memo. In the meantime, I would like you to ponder over the issues discussed in the memo and prepare questions or highlight any areas of the discussion that you feel needs to be elaborated further. It will be my joy to do everything in my capacity to help you prepare adequately for these elections. Bibliography 1. Pew Research Center. Inside Obama’s Sweeping Victory. ONLINE. November 5, 2008. Pew Research Center. Available: http://www.pewresearch.org/2008/11/05/inside-obamas-sweeping-victory/ 2. Chowdhry, Affan. Five key factors that propelled President Obama to victory. November 7, 2012. The Globe and Mail. Available: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-election/five-key-factors-that-propelled-president-obama-to-victory/article5038595/ 3. InfoPlease. Demographic Statistics: Ohio. ONLINE. 2014. infoplease.com. Available: http://www.infoplease.com/us/census/data/ohio/demographic.html 4. Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Florida Population Studies. 2014. University of Florida. 169-174. 5. Ohio Population. Ohio Development files. ONLINE. 2010. Available: http://development.ohio.gov/files/research/P7001.pdf Read More