If you watch any television at all, you can’t really get away from the political advertising. They come into your home through the television and invade your viewing time, and they are not always positive. I seems as though we see more ads AGAINST opponents than we do FOR candidates. Was it always this way? When and how did negative advertising begin? Were your parents and grandparents inundated with this type of advertising when they were your age?
Your next assignment will involve political advertising. We touched on the subject last week when we reviewed the newspaper article from the Annandale Advocate. Those of you who chose to respond to the article did a wonderful job and received extra credit for your comments. It’s not too late to respond if you so choose.
Let’s take a look at the 1976 Presidential race. What was going on at the time? Read on:
On August 9, 1974, after a Senate investigation revealed his direct involvement in the cover-up of the Watergate break-in, Richard Nixon became the first president in American history to resign from office. Nixon was succeeded by Gerald Ford, who had been appointed vice president after a bribery scandal forced Spiro Agnew’s resignation in October 1973. These scandals and the televised Watergate hearings, which resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of 25 Nixon administration officials, shattered the public’s trust in the government. In a 1974 poll, 43 percent of respondents said that they had “hardly any” faith in the executive branch. As a result, the 1976 election was dominated by issues of integrity and character. Hoping to put the Watergate affair to rest, President Ford unconditionally pardoned Nixon in September 1974, but the move hurt Ford’s political standing. Ford won the Republican nomination only after fighting off a strong challenge from Ronald Reagan.
The Democrats nominated Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, a former naval officer and peanut farmer. Carter, who promised, “I will never tell a lie to the American people,” ran a brilliant campaign as an outsider, offering a fresh change from Washington politics as usual.
Take a look at these commercials from 1976 for presidential candidates Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford
1976 Carter Commerical
1976 Ford Commercial
1. In the Carter ad, what type of leader do they want people to recognize Carter as?
2. At the end of the commercial, they say, “government for the people once again”. Given the information above (purple text), why do you think they used that phrase?
3. In the first part of the Ford commercial, what is the main message they are trying to portray?
4. What does the message change to later in the commercial?
5. Why did they emphasize that Ford is a man “you can depend on?”
6. Given the information above (purple text), why do you think they focused on these three things?
Now Let’s look at today’s campaign. What’s going on? What’s the history?
The 2008 election is about change, and since the financial crisis that hit in September, the economy. Polls indicate that more than 80 percent of likely voters feel that the country is on the wrong track or moving in the wrong direction. For the first time since 1952, there are no candidates on either major-party ticket who have served as president or vice president. The election will result in either the first African American president or the first woman vice president.
As in 2004, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still major issues, yet foreign policy was strongly overshadowed by the economy when the credit and mortgage crisis hit full force in September. Other economic concerns include health-care costs, energy policy, gas prices, and rising unemployment. From the primary campaigns into the general-election contest, candidates have been positioning themselves as agents of change. Normally it is the party out of power in the White House that calls for change. This year, both parties claim to offer “change,” as opposed to “more of the same.”
The candidates are making these claims in an ad war that is unprecedented in its quantity and cost. Ads are being created in rapid-response fashion, timed for the increasingly fast-paced news cycle. Also, as a reflection of the shift in popular culture toward the provocative tone of the Internet, which relies on bold statements and humor to inspire “forwardability,” the style of this year’s ads is noticeably sharper and more aggressive than that of previous elections.
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008
Watch these 2008 commercial endorsed by John McCain and Barak Obama
2008 McCain commercial
2008 Obama commercial
7. McCain’s commercial talks about “Obama’s liberal congressional allies”. What are “liberals” and why is John McCain portraying them in a negative way?
8. McCain’s commercial blames Barak Obama for high gas prices. Why would he do that?
9. What is the “wasteful pork” mentioned in McCain’s commercial?
10. Obama responds to McCain’s commercial by referring to McCain as “same old politics”. What does he mean by that?
11. Obama stated three goals:
Crack down on speculators
Raise mileage standards
Fast-track alternative fuels
Choose one of the above goals and state why it would be a focus of the 2008 campaign
Compare the facts (purple text) from the 1976 campaign to the facts from the 2008 campaign and answer these questions:
12. Write a paragraph about what was going on in 1976 and what effect it might have had on the average citizen.
13. Write a paragraph about what is going on today and what effect it might have on the average citizen.
14. In your opinion, was the average citizen better off in 1976 or today? Why or Why Not?
15. Compare the commercials from 1976 to those of today. In 1976, did candidates state why you should vote for them or did they state why you should NOT vote for someone else? What about in 2008?
16. Do you prefer the ads from 1976 or the ones from 2008? Why?
17. Which type of advertising do you think is more effective? Why?
18. Do you think the events in today’s world warrant the appearance of negative campaigning? Why or Why Not.
