Media Coverage Of Presidential Elections Essay
The media has become a big player in political campaigns of parties and candidates. Media coverage of presidential campaigns is undoubtedly the biggest platform to reach voters. One major aspect of media coverage of campaigns is the presidential debates which have now gain recognition as a prominent tradition to a build to US presidential elections. From John Kennedy and Richard Nixon to Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney, presidential debates has been seen the biggest platform to project the image of candidates. A candidate’s image in an election, according to some campaign consultants, is even more important than economic growth indicators. “They claim [campaign consultants] that the level of political advertising and the
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candidates’ travel schedules, verbal dexterity, and demeanor in the debates make all the difference to voters. The theory is that image matters; therefore image is what campaigns seek to create, using intensive interventions” (Iyengar, p. 273) Though the number of live audience for a presidential debates has significantly reduced over the years due to the advent of cable television, the debate get to many voters than any single advertisement or news report. (Iyengar, p. 188-189) This paper will examine in depth, the incumbent President Barack Obama’s performance in the 2012 presidential final debate and newspapers coverage of the debate.
The finals three major presidential debates in the 2012 electioneer year took place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. This debate like the other three debates of the 2012 campaign was organized under the auspices of the Commission on Presidential Debates and it was on foreign policy. The final debate was a very important one to both candidates so far as the effects of presidential debates goes due to the fact the candidates were tied in their last two debates. According to some polls conducted, while majority of voters applauded the former governor from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, the tables turn in the second debate. A Gallup poll of the first presidential debate found 72% of all debate watchers with the opinion that Mitt Romney did a better job than his counterpart Barrack Obama who had 20% .However, the same Gallup polls in the second debate judged Barrack Obama winner with 51% and 38% for Mitt Romney. Similarly, CBS polls and CNN polls conveyed similar response from the voters and this made the final debate a make or break affair for both candidates. Using candidate Obama as a case study, he was competitive right from the insertion of the debate applied various strategies to come out victorious. A WSJ/NBC poll assigned 49% to President Obama and 46% to Mitt Romney prior to the first presidential debate but before the final debate, the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll showed the two candidates were tied with 47% of likely vote. It was important for President Obama to do well, if for nothing at all, to improve his percentage on the polls. Some of the strategies used by candidate Obama are; winning by not losing, memorable lines and rebuttals among others.
Since the president was not trailing the governor in the prior to the debate, he would had a chance of winning the elections if he could avoid defeat in the final. Thus winning by not losing. He entered the debate with confidence and articulated his position well at the start. He was more aggressive of the two, using his competitor’s words before the debate on foreign policy against him with a hope of landing a knockout or unsettling his opponent at the beginning of the debate. “And, Governor Romney, I 'm glad that you agree that we have been successful in going after Al Qaida, but I have to tell you that your strategy previously has been one that has been all over the map and is not designed to keep Americans safe or to build on the opportunities that exist in the Middle East.” President Obama remarked. Although this attack by the president was not well substantiated as to whether it is true or false, Mitt Romney did little to defend himself which made the president looked good. And throughout the debate, the president consistently attacked the former Massachusetts governor. On the facial expressions, the president looked good, connected well with the debate and more importantly the audience. He did not appear as if he was under pressure to perform and he had his confidence on. President Obamas’ make-up was also spot on. In some previous debates, some candidates failed the appearance test. A good example is the first ever presidential debate held on September 26, 1960 between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Popular opinion about the debate as heard on radio was in favor of Richard Nixon but these opinions changed after the debate was watched on television due to the appearance and facial expression of Richard Nixon. Another thing President Obama well was, he stayed on the issues to a greater extent. He avoided major gaffes and kept his focus. He spoke many a time as he knew what he was talking about and this was evident when on many occasions he enumerated his foreign policies. For example, on the segment that covered counterterrorism efforts and situations in the Middle East, the president at some point said “Now, it is absolutely true that we cannot just beat these challenges militarily. And so what I 've done—throughout my Presidency and will continue to do—is, number one, make sure that these countries are supporting our counterterrorism efforts. Number two, make sure that they are standing by our interests in Israel 's security, because it is a true friend and our greatest ally in the region. Number three, we do have to make sure that we 're protecting religious minorities and women because these countries can 't develop unless all the population—not just half of it—is developing. Number four, we do have to develop their economic capabilities. But number five, the other thing that we have to do is recognize that we can 't continue to do nation-building in these regions. Part of American leadership is making sure that we 're doing nation-building here at home.” Some of the memorable lines used by President Obama were on Israel. The president said “When I went to Israel as a candidate, I didn’t take donors. I didn’t attend fundraisers. I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there to remind myself of the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel would be unbreakable.” And on Russia, the president said ““Gov. Romney, I’m glad that you recognize that Al Qaeda is a threat because a few months ago when you asked what’s the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia – not Al Qaeda – you said Russia. The 1980s are now calling and asking for their foreign policy back.” (Politico, October 22, 2012) However, the president used his rebuttal privileges to interject Mitt Romney when Romney has taken turn to speak. At some point when the president attacked Romney, he just did not allow Romney to defend himself fully by interjecting. This I found was not healthy to the debate.
Also some attacks on Mitt Romney were not factual as it was later revealed by pundits by Brooks Jackson, Eugene Kiely, Lori Robertson, Robert Farley, D’Angelo Gore and Ben Finley of Annenberg Public Policy Center after the debate. “President Obama erred when he accused Mitt Romney of saying during the 2008 campaign that “we should ask Pakistan for permission” before going into that country to kill or capture terrorists. What Romney said was that he’d “keep our options quiet.” (Radio Iowa, August 3, 2007). Obama wrongly accused Romney of not telling the truth when Romney said “you and I agreed” some U.S. troops should be left in Iraq. In fact, the president tried and failed to negotiate an agreement to keep 3,000 to 4,000 support troops there; Romney said he would have left 10,000 to 30,000.” (Fox News Sunday, December 17, 2011) (factcheck.org, False Claims in Final Debate, October 23, 2012) In general, the media coverage of the final presidential debate were filled with pictures of the debate and global themes since the debate was about foreign policy. The Huffington Post of October 23, 2012 covered the front pages of 53 newspapers and how the reported the debate under the title; How Newspapers Covered The Last Presidential Debate. Most media coverage portrayed President Obama as victor of the debate. The New York Times reported that “"Obama Plays Offense in Last Debate" (). According to the Washington Post, “Obama keeps Romney on his heels in last debate” by Dan Balz and David Nakamura. (Washington Post, October 22, 2012). From Politico, “President Obama tears into Mitt Romney at last debate” by Alexander Burns. (Politico, October 22, 2012). When Bill O’Reilly, author and host of The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, stopped by Fox and Friends after the debate, he described the debate as the most boring debate he has ever witnessed. “It was boring. It was so boring. It was the most boring debate I’ve ever seen.” He continued to say “None of them scored any points on the other,” he continued, “and I think everybody at home were the losers — the American people were the losers.” (Fox News, October 23, 2012) Eventually, the president’s aggressive strategy to attack Mitt Romney on his foreign policies worked to a greater extent since media coverage favored his performance on the night and might have helped him in winning the elections since he came out as the eventual winner of the 2012 presidential elections. Paid media is a very essential component of campaigns in elections. Though expensive, it helps campaigns by offering control of message and a repetition of the same message over and over again to reach its target audience. “Dear Daughter” was a title of a campaign ad by the republican candidate, Mitt Romney.
The ad was an issue based attack on the Obama administration. The ad was probably to reduce the damage caused by a fallout from a video that showed the candidate saying 47% of Americans are victims dependent on the government. And a New York Times/CBS poll that found that Mitt Romney was 12% behind President Obama among women voters. (Huffington Post, 09/18/2012) The ad was targeted at women and voters who sympathized with women. It showed a mother with a little baby and a woman voice at the background. Mitt Romney is only heard as he approves the message. The ad announces the baby share of debt accumulated by the Obama administration which keeps growing. It also tells the baby how the economy have being hostile to the money. The ad may have being effective since there are more women than men in America and the welfare of women are a priority to many. Another strength of the ad is, it supports its arguments with figures though no evidence or footnotes were given. Those figures whether true or false could have deceived the public to believe since not everyone who saw the ad will bother further
investigation.
Ad source; (YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adBa8AfUykc ) The second ad is a paid ad by the Republican National Committee. In the ad a cute Hispanic girl gives a number of reasons why her relationship with Obama must be changed from intimate to casual. The girl accuses Obama of excessive spending, hanging out with Hollywood stars and not staying at his office to work. The ad was lighthearted targeted at the millions of people who felt Obama was not the person they thought he was and it also directed such people to website (breakupwithobama.com) where they could share their stories and ‘break up’ with the president. (Times News Feed, 09/06/2012) The ad though creative may have not made much impact since the issues raised had no footnotes or evidence for verification. The actress did not look serious enough for someone breaking up more than three years of a relationship. The cardboard cutout of the president was a smiling one and it did not show any signs of despair as it is witness at moments when people break up. Ad source; YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnJLmhEsu-s A study by the Wesleyan Media Project showed that 70 percent in the 2012 presidential race was predominantly negative. (Huffington Post, 05/03/2012) One of such ads is an Obama ad about Mitt Romney titled ‘Come and Go’. The ad portrays Mitt Romney as a corporate raider, the ‘guy’ who shipped jobs in the US to Mexico and China and outsourcing jobs.
Ad source; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVaw5cTjxmk Campaign ads can go as far as convincing undecided voters but with the majority of people who align themselves with a party, it takes more than just an attack, issue or bio ads to change their voting pattern. Bibliography
Iyengar, S. (2011). Media Politics. A citizen’s guide. 2nd W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Graber, S. Doris (2011). Media Power in Politics. (6th Ed.) CQ Press, Washington, DC 20037
Popkin, S. L. (1994). The reasoning voter: Communication and persuasion in presidential campaigns (2nd Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press
candidates’ travel schedules, verbal dexterity, and demeanor in the debates make all the difference to voters. The theory is that image matters; therefore image is what campaigns seek to create, using intensive interventions” (Iyengar, p. 273) Though the number of live audience for a presidential debates has significantly reduced over the years due to the advent of cable television, the debate get to many voters than any single advertisement or news report. (Iyengar, p. 188-189) This paper will examine in depth, the incumbent President Barack Obama’s performance in the 2012 presidential final debate and newspapers coverage of the debate.
The finals three major presidential debates in the 2012 electioneer year took place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, 2012. This debate like the other three debates of the 2012 campaign was organized under the auspices of the Commission on Presidential Debates and it was on foreign policy. The final debate was a very important one to both candidates so far as the effects of presidential debates goes due to the fact the candidates were tied in their last two debates. According to some polls conducted, while majority of voters applauded the former governor from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, the tables turn in the second debate. A Gallup poll of the first presidential debate found 72% of all debate watchers with the opinion that Mitt Romney did a better job than his counterpart Barrack Obama who had 20% .However, the same Gallup polls in the second debate judged Barrack Obama winner with 51% and 38% for Mitt Romney. Similarly, CBS polls and CNN polls conveyed similar response from the voters and this made the final debate a make or break affair for both candidates. Using candidate Obama as a case study, he was competitive right from the insertion of the debate applied various strategies to come out victorious. A WSJ/NBC poll assigned 49% to President Obama and 46% to Mitt Romney prior to the first presidential debate but before the final debate, the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll showed the two candidates were tied with 47% of likely vote. It was important for President Obama to do well, if for nothing at all, to improve his percentage on the polls. Some of the strategies used by candidate Obama are; winning by not losing, memorable lines and rebuttals among others.
Since the president was not trailing the governor in the prior to the debate, he would had a chance of winning the elections if he could avoid defeat in the final. Thus winning by not losing. He entered the debate with confidence and articulated his position well at the start. He was more aggressive of the two, using his competitor’s words before the debate on foreign policy against him with a hope of landing a knockout or unsettling his opponent at the beginning of the debate. “And, Governor Romney, I 'm glad that you agree that we have been successful in going after Al Qaida, but I have to tell you that your strategy previously has been one that has been all over the map and is not designed to keep Americans safe or to build on the opportunities that exist in the Middle East.” President Obama remarked. Although this attack by the president was not well substantiated as to whether it is true or false, Mitt Romney did little to defend himself which made the president looked good. And throughout the debate, the president consistently attacked the former Massachusetts governor. On the facial expressions, the president looked good, connected well with the debate and more importantly the audience. He did not appear as if he was under pressure to perform and he had his confidence on. President Obamas’ make-up was also spot on. In some previous debates, some candidates failed the appearance test. A good example is the first ever presidential debate held on September 26, 1960 between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Popular opinion about the debate as heard on radio was in favor of Richard Nixon but these opinions changed after the debate was watched on television due to the appearance and facial expression of Richard Nixon. Another thing President Obama well was, he stayed on the issues to a greater extent. He avoided major gaffes and kept his focus. He spoke many a time as he knew what he was talking about and this was evident when on many occasions he enumerated his foreign policies. For example, on the segment that covered counterterrorism efforts and situations in the Middle East, the president at some point said “Now, it is absolutely true that we cannot just beat these challenges militarily. And so what I 've done—throughout my Presidency and will continue to do—is, number one, make sure that these countries are supporting our counterterrorism efforts. Number two, make sure that they are standing by our interests in Israel 's security, because it is a true friend and our greatest ally in the region. Number three, we do have to make sure that we 're protecting religious minorities and women because these countries can 't develop unless all the population—not just half of it—is developing. Number four, we do have to develop their economic capabilities. But number five, the other thing that we have to do is recognize that we can 't continue to do nation-building in these regions. Part of American leadership is making sure that we 're doing nation-building here at home.” Some of the memorable lines used by President Obama were on Israel. The president said “When I went to Israel as a candidate, I didn’t take donors. I didn’t attend fundraisers. I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there to remind myself of the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel would be unbreakable.” And on Russia, the president said ““Gov. Romney, I’m glad that you recognize that Al Qaeda is a threat because a few months ago when you asked what’s the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia – not Al Qaeda – you said Russia. The 1980s are now calling and asking for their foreign policy back.” (Politico, October 22, 2012) However, the president used his rebuttal privileges to interject Mitt Romney when Romney has taken turn to speak. At some point when the president attacked Romney, he just did not allow Romney to defend himself fully by interjecting. This I found was not healthy to the debate.
Also some attacks on Mitt Romney were not factual as it was later revealed by pundits by Brooks Jackson, Eugene Kiely, Lori Robertson, Robert Farley, D’Angelo Gore and Ben Finley of Annenberg Public Policy Center after the debate. “President Obama erred when he accused Mitt Romney of saying during the 2008 campaign that “we should ask Pakistan for permission” before going into that country to kill or capture terrorists. What Romney said was that he’d “keep our options quiet.” (Radio Iowa, August 3, 2007). Obama wrongly accused Romney of not telling the truth when Romney said “you and I agreed” some U.S. troops should be left in Iraq. In fact, the president tried and failed to negotiate an agreement to keep 3,000 to 4,000 support troops there; Romney said he would have left 10,000 to 30,000.” (Fox News Sunday, December 17, 2011) (factcheck.org, False Claims in Final Debate, October 23, 2012) In general, the media coverage of the final presidential debate were filled with pictures of the debate and global themes since the debate was about foreign policy. The Huffington Post of October 23, 2012 covered the front pages of 53 newspapers and how the reported the debate under the title; How Newspapers Covered The Last Presidential Debate. Most media coverage portrayed President Obama as victor of the debate. The New York Times reported that “"Obama Plays Offense in Last Debate" (). According to the Washington Post, “Obama keeps Romney on his heels in last debate” by Dan Balz and David Nakamura. (Washington Post, October 22, 2012). From Politico, “President Obama tears into Mitt Romney at last debate” by Alexander Burns. (Politico, October 22, 2012). When Bill O’Reilly, author and host of The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, stopped by Fox and Friends after the debate, he described the debate as the most boring debate he has ever witnessed. “It was boring. It was so boring. It was the most boring debate I’ve ever seen.” He continued to say “None of them scored any points on the other,” he continued, “and I think everybody at home were the losers — the American people were the losers.” (Fox News, October 23, 2012) Eventually, the president’s aggressive strategy to attack Mitt Romney on his foreign policies worked to a greater extent since media coverage favored his performance on the night and might have helped him in winning the elections since he came out as the eventual winner of the 2012 presidential elections. Paid media is a very essential component of campaigns in elections. Though expensive, it helps campaigns by offering control of message and a repetition of the same message over and over again to reach its target audience. “Dear Daughter” was a title of a campaign ad by the republican candidate, Mitt Romney.
The ad was an issue based attack on the Obama administration. The ad was probably to reduce the damage caused by a fallout from a video that showed the candidate saying 47% of Americans are victims dependent on the government. And a New York Times/CBS poll that found that Mitt Romney was 12% behind President Obama among women voters. (Huffington Post, 09/18/2012) The ad was targeted at women and voters who sympathized with women. It showed a mother with a little baby and a woman voice at the background. Mitt Romney is only heard as he approves the message. The ad announces the baby share of debt accumulated by the Obama administration which keeps growing. It also tells the baby how the economy have being hostile to the money. The ad may have being effective since there are more women than men in America and the welfare of women are a priority to many. Another strength of the ad is, it supports its arguments with figures though no evidence or footnotes were given. Those figures whether true or false could have deceived the public to believe since not everyone who saw the ad will bother further
investigation.
Ad source; (YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adBa8AfUykc ) The second ad is a paid ad by the Republican National Committee. In the ad a cute Hispanic girl gives a number of reasons why her relationship with Obama must be changed from intimate to casual. The girl accuses Obama of excessive spending, hanging out with Hollywood stars and not staying at his office to work. The ad was lighthearted targeted at the millions of people who felt Obama was not the person they thought he was and it also directed such people to website (breakupwithobama.com) where they could share their stories and ‘break up’ with the president. (Times News Feed, 09/06/2012) The ad though creative may have not made much impact since the issues raised had no footnotes or evidence for verification. The actress did not look serious enough for someone breaking up more than three years of a relationship. The cardboard cutout of the president was a smiling one and it did not show any signs of despair as it is witness at moments when people break up. Ad source; YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnJLmhEsu-s A study by the Wesleyan Media Project showed that 70 percent in the 2012 presidential race was predominantly negative. (Huffington Post, 05/03/2012) One of such ads is an Obama ad about Mitt Romney titled ‘Come and Go’. The ad portrays Mitt Romney as a corporate raider, the ‘guy’ who shipped jobs in the US to Mexico and China and outsourcing jobs.
Ad source; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVaw5cTjxmk Campaign ads can go as far as convincing undecided voters but with the majority of people who align themselves with a party, it takes more than just an attack, issue or bio ads to change their voting pattern. Bibliography
Iyengar, S. (2011). Media Politics. A citizen’s guide. 2nd W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Graber, S. Doris (2011). Media Power in Politics. (6th Ed.) CQ Press, Washington, DC 20037
Popkin, S. L. (1994). The reasoning voter: Communication and persuasion in presidential campaigns (2nd Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press