I thought I'd post about campaign ads. I'm sure everyone has seen Obama's "Hope" sticker:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JiMcxqO4f00rGFvEGrBQyweH0jxQPHczlqlos8Wo-2aecq42gbuROyOWR3jJIqBVOki53-SKvn_J3CYOz4WcFZ-IzHaktXJebrsYPtkA1BLDfcf1izcX3RBFPXZ2bvOqtP3QWreUEOo/s1600-h/Obama_Hope.jpg
And they've made an anti-McCain version too:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv928k0RbHZlD2-D3X7r37qteOOr6f1vnVj0-ggUT2vZesmxNDZBO_YD6mNN-moU-0VdkMXvg66GzsMVevG3p-TeX1HpGu2nOBFHNQhbfOD1BMNXdFLZdZFl5CAvTTyQwyRnSOoU5sFoY/s1600-h/125-McCain-Nope.jpg
I found this on another blog. Can you believe they make t-shirts out of these?
The caption that reads under McCain's sticker is "Peace? Nope. Health care? Nope. Fair trade and tax? Nope. Choice? Nope. Environment? Nope. Get the idea? Get the T-Shirt!"
I thought it was funny, but yes, I am biased.
Now on to the real point. These are actually pretty mild in terms of attacking the opponent. I've seen some images that are really racist. I saw a caricature of Obama (with big ears, looking like a monkey) on the phone with a terrorist. Really, people? This is the 21st century. If all you can attack him for is his skin color, then I think it's pretty obvious who should be President. It's one thing to attack a candidate for his policies or even his eloquence, but personal attacks? This then made me think if candidates take it all personally. Political figures have to have really tough skin to do what they do, and I never respected or admired them as much as I started to recently. I know I personally was waiting for Palin to mess up during the Vice Presidential Debate, but now I have a little more respect for her for not completely cracking.
But you know, that's just me. I dislike prejudices and stereotypes. Thoughts, anyone??
16 comments:
Having a competitive election is pretty neat but when candidates' attacks get personal , I think that is when a healthy competition turns into a childish squabble.
Of course most people say they disagree with stereotypes and say they only cause evil. I'm not saying that I disagree, but that everyone has some stereotypes in the back of their heads no matter how big or small, and if they like it or not. As long as people are different there will be stereotypes and generalities - probably because of the fact that our brains like to find patterns wherever they can.
So, unfortunately, stereotypes are very difficult to get rid of. Like ants - you can try to get rid of them, but there will always be some left, and they will probably come back to raid your kitchen again in the future. I'm cool with the ants, though.
well i gotta admit that McCain's picture in that sticker did get a smile out of me...
I also agree that personal attacks goes a bit too far. Those "Obama is a terrorist" adds I've seen scattered here and there actually make me laugh though. I mean, a terrorist? That is just so...different and hard to believe when compared to regular attacks. I mean, would these tactics of comparing Obama to a terrorist really work? And I've even seen those adds here in California. Considering how democratic the state is, it seems like a hopeless attempt to paint Obama as a terrorist. I mean really... Just because Obama was working alongside Ayers on the Woods Fund board for a while hardly makes Obama a terrorist collaborator...
I too was waiting for Palin to mess up during the election. It's not that I'm so anti-republican that I want to see her fail... It's just that I don't like Palin as a politician. She seems to unprofessional and uniformed. While i do dislike Palin, i also notice that there seems to be an unfair amount of personal attacks on Palin by all sorts of people/media. Then again, maybe it's because the media just has so much to work with...
Those pictures are not that bad compared to other ones I have seen about Obama and Biden. Some of the adds can be pretty funny, but others can be kinda nasty. Politics is kind of a popularity contest so I don't find it very surprising that opponents are willing to attack each other through stereotypes or racist comments to get a few extra votes. Even though its the 21st century, prejudices still exist because people are different from one another. In my opinion, as long as people are still prejudice politicians and their supporters will resort to "mean" mudslinging tactics.
I think politicians now are much more sneaky in their insults than they once were. When i think back to Jackson's and John Ouincy Adams' campaign when they were running for President they were nasty to one another. Jackson was accused of adultery and vilified for running off with another man’s wife. And his wife was accused of bigamy. And The supporters of Andrew Jackson began spreading a rumor that Adams, while serving as American ambassador to Russia, had procured an American girl for the sexual services of the Russian czar. At least politicians are not as mean as they once were.
I think that these types of designs are popular amongst the Obama team because they are simple yet they clearly get the point across. Many are not willing to invest their time into analyzing a very complex and intricate political cartoon (like the ones in popular newspapers and magazines) like we do in class. The cartoons are simple enough for even a young child to understand, and the Obama campaign is trying to make it easy for people to agree with them. They're trying to keep things simple so that there is no confusion amongst their audience. Also, these kinds of graphic displays attract young voters, which many of Obama's supporters are, so that creates a more loyal and supportive group of young voters. In addition, the cartoon of campaign is obviously a stab at his old age, and frankly unattractive looks...people are obviously going to say that looks do not matter in a political campaign..which I think is not true because Kennedy attracted many voters through the debates where his opponent seemed old, ugly, and nervous. By pointing out McCain's ugliness (for lack of a better word) and comparing that to the drawing of a peaceful/intelligent looking Obama, the campaign is trying to attract even more voters (and especially the younger crowd of Americans).
I honestly do not feel surprised by the racism. This country still harbors a somewhat substantial racist population (those who openly admit it and those who do not). I mean seriously, how do you think people are going to react about a black man running for president?
I think the fact that he has made it this far is revolutionary in itself and if Obama gets elected, that will be even more revolutionary; however, I can understand where the prejudice concerns come from-- having a black man as president will totally flip over all structure for putting down minorities as it will give people hope that not every president has to be white.
With all of that being said, the prejudiced campaigning I feel is totally natural and was bound to happen. It may be unprofessional for McCain to make prejudiced attacks but I honestly can't see this country avoiding this inevitable quality.
I think that it's important to have some negative ads like these in elections. Eventually, someone is going to ask a candidate "why not him? (or her)" and they need to have a decent answer. However, I do also agree that sometimes it goes a little too far.
Like everyone has said, I also was hoping for a bigger blunder from Palin, but I think the reason that we all wanted a mistake was because we don't want her elected. It's not that "I'm so anti-republican that I want to see her fail" like Jeff said, its just that if she messes up there's a bigger chance of Obama succeeding.
Did anyone catch that thing last week when that McCain supporter called Obama an Arab and McCain said "No, he's a decent family man." ? I was hearing about it on the radio today. I'm glad that Obama hasn't been capitalizing on that comment as much as he could be, it really shows some restraint. Besides, we all know what he meant by his comment. This is a good sign that the actual candidates haven't taken their negative ads too far.
As long as some people are shielded by the power of "Anonymous" and "public opinion", it doesn't matter how vile or how evil their remarks, comments or pictures, as long as they can garner some attention, some people will say anything. It is also important to note that the thing that attracts the most human attention is human tragedy. Furthermore, it is also important to note that many many voters vote on who they want for president based solely on the social image of the candidate.
If there's anyone to blame for these personal attacks i would blame the spontaneously voting public, because they are the ones that fuel this form of campaigning strategy the most.
I definitely think that this negativity and ridiculousness was bound to come out of this election. This year, we're dealing with two very easily targeted people. Either the first African American president, or the oldest president in American history. And while I do think that it is more reasonable to make cartoons and caricatures based off of actual policies and substance, I really don't think that the majority of people would care. When we look at cartoons, we look for humor. And the most easily understandable form of humor, unfortunately, is a personal attack. To come into this election and think that Obama would not be receiving low blows from his race or supposed association with terrorists would be a serious miscalculation of the media. So yes, prejudices are wrong and it is slightly disturbing that people are willing to stoop that low. These mudslinging tactics have been around for a while now, and all potential candidates or people who wish to put themselves onto the political scene should be ready to face these hurtful remarks and jabs.
PS: in response to the 21st century "we can't attack him for his skin color." - I would like to think that by now, Americans have completely gotten over the whole race issue, but clearly, its still an issue and im pretty sure we've all witnessed it happening among adults and our classmates. So despite all the supposed racial boundaries we have lept over throughout the years, I don't think anyone is surprised that Obama is being attacked for his race.
I actually saw someone wearing that "McCain-Nope" shirt on Saturday and it really stood out because of those bright colors. Anyway, I believe that this election has become too filled with negative campaigning and stereotypes. I do think that this kind of behavior is inevitable in our diverse society, but some of it is going too far. For instance, I recently saw a video clip of a cnn interview. The people getting interviewed were acting extremely disrespectfully towards Sarah Palin. I'm not a huge supporter of Palin or anything, but I was pretty appalled by some of the comments that were made. Getting your point across that you don't support her is one thing, but too much is just too much. Negative comments like these can backfire and more importantly, they can take away the focus from more important issues. I don't think I've seen many stereotypes/mean things about Biden. He's not a really easy target, I guess. Maybe I'm just not aware?
I like the shirt desgin. I think its funny and quite creative, but I agree that people sometimes take advantage of the election to say some pretty nasty things about each other. Especially the race thing, which is totally uncalled for. If it's something you should attack the candidate for, it should not be race or gender or any kind of physical characteristic. Something one could question is a mistake said during a debate or public speech, like today's video of the history of Presedential debates. People should be questioning whether or not the candidate's facts and information is accurate.
P.S Something I stumbled on that I thought was funny:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081014/ap_on_el_pr/palin;_ylt=Ao6mZTBITXEsby3n8gR8_M8Xr7sF
Palin mistakes some of her fans for protesters.
like, really?
This post made me realize how strong politicians really have to be to still stand strong under the intense scrutiny of our nation. I find that people in this country can be rather cruel and for these candidates to stand up to millions of people that potentially hate them shows us how incredible these candidates are, even if they say some things that we don't like to hear.
I think the whole "Obama is a terrorist" thing is completely unbelievable. To me, it shows maybe how desperate McCain and his party are to win this election. I feel race and stereotypes will always be used to attack someone because we have so many races and cultures in the US. It's inevitable. And it's just human nature.
This post made me realize how strong politicians really have to be to still stand strong under the intense scrutiny of our nation. I find that people in this country can be rather cruel and for these candidates to stand up to millions of people that potentially hate them shows us how incredible these candidates are, even if they say some things that we don't like to hear.
I think the whole "Obama is a terrorist" thing is completely unbelievable. To me, it shows maybe how desperate McCain and his party are to win this election. I feel race and stereotypes will always be used to attack someone because we have so many races and cultures in the US. It's inevitable. And it's just human nature.
Eh, I think that these kind of advertisements are cheap shots. Depicting Obama as angelic and then depicting McCain as wrinkly and awkward-looking is not a fair comparison and makes Obama supporters look like they aren't smart and are resorting to attacking looks rather than opinions on major issues. They are meant to be funny, but they don't say anything about each candidates policies or why we should vote for one or the other. They are simple, yes, I agree, but simple to a degree that is almost insulting. This goes back to the point that was made in class one day that this election has resorted to attacks on dumb, unimportant comments (the lipstick comment, the number of houses comment) rather than the issues. C'mon, we can do better than this.
I too agree with the previous commenters about how out of place attacks are. I am always disheartened when any politician (including Obama) either uses personal attacks or is disengenous or outright lies during their campaign. However, McCain clearly does it more and it isn't working. A New York Times poll released today had Obama leading 53% to 39%. I wonder why...
In the editorial in last week's Aragon Outlook, this was one of the reasons that we endorsed Obama. Aside from the many policy issues between the two, McCain has shown himself to be downright nasty and dishonest. This is not what we need in a president now or anytime.
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