Ted Cruz’$ Unprecedented Finance$

Chapter Eight of Politics and Communication in America by Kuypers and Denton, Jr. discusses Campaign Planning, Management, Strategies, and Tactics. On Pg. 164, a passage entitled “Key Elements of a Campaign” starts. There are six elements for campaigning, and  one of the most important is finance. Four affiliated supers PACs, (Political Action Committees) announced that by the end of the week they will have raised $31 million to fund Sen. Ted Cruz and his Presidential bid. According to some campaign finance experts, the fact that multiple super-PACs are coming together to support one candidate is unprecedented. Kuypers and Denton, Jr. state that money is the lifeblood of politics and that there is a strong connection between success in an election and how much money a candidate is able to raise. There are many guidelines on how to obtain funds and where to obtain them from. This is sort of where PACs come in. In 2002, reform was passed where groups are allowed to raise however much money without disclosing any amounts. These advocacy groups and organizations influence elections through voter mobilization and with issue ads. In Sen. Cruz’s case, the four super-PACs are gaining a lot of power and influence in the upcoming election because of how much money they are donating to his cause. All of these super-PACs are connected to wealthy individuals such as the Koch brothers. Campaign strategists know one thing for certain, that donors will be getting more powerful in the future when it comes to campaign finances.

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Traveling salesmen or presidential candidates? The art of retail politics.

There is an old song by the late Johnny Cash titled ‘Iv’e been everywhere.’ Perhaps there is no better way to describe what takes place with all major front runner candidates when what I call ‘Presidential election season’ comes to town. The serious front runners pack up their bags and head down the campaign trail known as America. With these candidates comes a whole stockpile of rhetoric and self promoting agenda all warehoused and ready to ship to you. Perhaps some of you could use a good border patrol elixir to solve our illegal immigration problem. Others might be interested in a magical snake oil ointment that cures our national debt issue. And last but not least plenty of self promoting books and speeches to help you through this difficult time when having to vote for a specific candidate. One thing is for sure, whatever problem ails you America these candidates/salespeople are sure to have a cure. Now let’s clarify something here so that one doesn’t get this confused with let’s say a rock n roll concert tour. A concert so to speak is a performance by some specific artist, a campaign is an artist trying to sell you something. So as the retail politics machine and candidates hit the road this election season please read all warning labels and consumer reports on these products/solutions that will surely be presented to you. Many of these inviting direct voter contact appearances may seem intriguing however it may be just a scheme to sell you something you don’t need. Candidates coming to a city near you? Buyer beware. http://www.politics1.com/p2016.htm

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Rand Paul election timing-Free media

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/politics/rand-paul-2016-missed-moment/index.html

Evidently yesterday Tuesday the 7th of April was the day for Rand Paul to enter the race for the 2016 presidency, or was it?  The media is having a field day with his annoucement, and while this article could be viewed under the definition of several different terms we have studied this semester, I have chosen to name is as an example of (free media)  The media goes on and on about things that Paul has done in the past, in essence questioning rather his time for presidential candidacy has come and gone.  However from the point of view within in the Rand Paul camp is that they are getting free media coverage for his run for the Replucican party candidate.  Rather his decisions in the past will slow his future political career or even ruin his chances are totally up to the voters to decide.   However in the mean time the media is all a buzz with his annoucement and saving his camp millions by covering in every detail his political history, which not only gives his strategists an opportunity to bring all his past issues to the forefront of the public eye but gives him a perfect chance to explain is their opinion as to why the voters are misinformed as to how he thinks and what his future intentions will be if elected, and due to the (free media) it won’t cut into his campaign budget at all.
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Right Said Ted

The topic in which I am going to focus on for this blog entry is disgust. This  dialog is a Ted Talk regarding how feelings of disgust plays a part in politics. This quote from the transcript of that talk: “The fact that emotions influence our judgment should come as no surprise. I mean, that’s part of how emotions work. They not only motivate you to behave in certain ways, but they change the way you think. In the case of disgust, what is a little bit more surprising is the scope of this influence. It makes perfect sense, and it’s a very good emotion for us to have, that disgust would make me change the way that I perceive the physical world whenever contamination is possible. It makes less sense that an emotion that was built to prevent me from ingesting poison should predict who I’m going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election.” On page 68 of our textbook, there are four major influences on voting behavior. This is an example of one of them; selective exposure. We are drawn to information that supports our views. This TED talk really made me think about how most candidates in modern times have been chosen by more and more superficial aspects, such as appearance. Doesn’t Sarah Palin come to mind? Superficiality has surpassed substance as a way of how voters decide on which candidate to choose. If a candidate dredges up an intense dislike, then they will not have voter approval. Think again of Sarah Palin’s lack of intelligence portrayed on Saturday Night Live or on the late night talk shows. Disgust is an ugly word that brings about feelings of discomfort and dislike. What influences a voter’s behavior? Shouldn’t it be beliefs, attitudes and values; not what lip stick a candidate wears.

~Debbie

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Republicans smacking around the president

There are few attention grabbing titles that can match the article that I have decided to talk about. The link can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/politics/iran-nuclear-deal-delay-republicans/index.html and the title is “GOP slaps Obama over Iran talks extension”. Immediately I am taught to think “what? someone slapped the president?!” which of course wasn’t the case. I think that a lot of different perspectives can be taken when looking at this article. The most glaring perspective that you could take when looking at this article would probably be an Agenda setting perspective. This article has agenda setting elements but the elements that make up agenda setting such as priming and framing are in full display when you read the title. We are primed to think that a slap is a physical confrontation and the title is framed on our preconceived notions of what a slap is in order to grab our attention and get us to click on the article. This article wouldn’t have been able to engage the viewers in the same way if the title would’ve have been “GOP upset with Obama over Iran talks extension”. Clearly CNN knew what they were doing when the titled the article they way they did. CNN was trying to grab our attention.

To me I think the most interesting way to look at this article is article is from a fake news perspective. This article is obviously not fake news but the way that the title is worded it is worded in a fake news type of way. We all knew that no one had slapped the president otherwise it would have been major national news. Of course the president wasn’t slapped and so the article takes on a fake news type of title in order to bring in the viewer. This type of story could easily be the headline on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The fake news type of title is effective in grabbing our attention, so even though the story is real the type is eccentric and over the top, much like the way that fake news stories are set up.

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Portman vs. Strickland

As the 2016 Presidential Campaign is starting to take off, another important race is kicking off for Ohioans. The 2016 Senatorial race, where Rob Portman as the incumbent and Ted Strickland as the challenger. In Cleveland.com article about Rob Portman re-election talks about the amount of money already raised by Portman. The article talks about how Portman has already raised 8 million dollars for his re-election race. The article talks about how Strickland just recently made his bid for the Democrat’s Senator place. What makes this race unique is that Strickland is not new to the an important job as he once was the Governor of Ohio. This race will both have name recognition, Portman as the sitting senator and Strickland as the former governor. If Strickland wins the Democrat bid, this will be a close race because Clinton just backed Strickland which will lead to many more fundraising money. This race will be less about name recognition and more about Strickland defending what he did as governor and Portman pushing he is better than Strickland.

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Australia is in quite a bind.

In Australia the Aboriginals are facing the diminishing of their own cultures. The federal funding has been cut off as of July of 2015. This is the funding that provides for the indigenous communities forcing them to find a new way to support themselves. The government has been using ways of revenue to control the communities for basic human needs like water and waste removal.  When the Prime Minister referred to their way of life as a ‘lifestyle choice’ he received many critics, including his own senate, saying he needed to apologize for labeling a culture of people that have been prominent in their country for over 55,000 years. By creating this drama he has specifically brought attention to this issue. Many years ago when the people had moved into the smaller towns to make a living it created social issues like alcoholism and drug issues with homelessness as well. The towns folk are not interested in the possible influx of people that could return with the government cutting off the funding. It caused issues in their living standards and also raised the crime rate. Without the funding to provide extra police or security to the small towns, it created the tension between the different cultures.  The West Australian Premier has also been polarizing the indigenous people by accusing them of not giving the children a chance to grow up and be successful people because of rampant cases of child abuse. It has since been disregarded as a political ploy and not credible. In all people are worried because the government is defining the Australian people as one instead of the several different communities and cultures that are contained in that country. With much contradiction not only in what is being said but also between members of the government, it is hard to follow along with which path the elite are choosing to take and why that is the chosen direction.

https://news.vice.com/article/aboriginal-lifestyle-choice-to-live-in-australias-outback-will-no-longer-be-supported

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Tammy Duckworth launches Illinois Senate bid

As we have recently studied in both chapter 8 and 10 of our text (Politics and Communication in America) Denton and Kuypers explain that when announcing your bid to run for office you should follow a plan to help you succeed. In this article, that was on listed on CNN, Tammy Duckworth a Democrat has announced her run for US Senate for the state of Illinois. She starts by using a form of a stock speech “Why I Am Running” by saying “I am running because it is time for Washington to be held accountable and put Illinois families and communities first.” She continued to say, “If you elect me as Illinois’ senator I will fight my heart out to represent you with honor and integrity.”  As we read in Trent and Friedenbergs paper, when on is delivering an announcement speech there are several things to consider. First is timing,  the question should be is this a good time or not, in this case some would say yes, since her opponent is does not seem to have a very strong incumbent holding right now. Others would say it is also good teeming because she is a veteran and in light of the talks with Iran over the nuclear arms deals, we may just need someone like her in our court.  Another thing to consider is location, in Duckworth’s speech she highlighted her humble upbringing and emphasized that she was a daughter of a Marine, wife and mother. She appealed to many areas of her constituents, such as veterans, women, working mothers and many who started with humble beginnings.  I believe in this article we can see how it has hit several of the areas that we have been discussing in class on what would be considered the correct way to make your bin into the political arena.

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Obama’s job program for Vets

President Obama wants to add 75,000 jobs to the solar energy sector by 2020. the put out by the International Business Times notes that 174,000 people work in solar which is higher than the coal industry, solar energy is booming right now. (I know Toledo Ohio is one of the largest producers of solar panels) The creation of jobs in this field may just be the best thing Obama has done in a long time. I think that he used Agenda Setting himself in developing this plan, he combats climate change, C02 emissions, veteran employment, renewable energy and a potential economic boost. everything the article covers has been a concern with many americans in the past few years and although the amount of energy actually created is small, it could potentially help us recover not by helping the grid but by the jobs it creates, specifically middle-class veterans, which have a hard time getting back into the work force. The time table isnt that high either which I think is important 75,000 jobs in 5 years is much better than 100,000 in ten for example. it seems in the past proposals have had long lengthy time tables with big flashy numbers, and this proposal avoids that, if this one of the last bills put out by the president I think he might leave on a high note.

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“Real Women”

Not your typical politics:

In an issue by US Magazine “Eloquii Taps Real Women to Model Latest Collection” I would like to use framing to describe what we are seeing here. With America’s growing obesity issue our citizens are getting larger, there for the clothing sizes are also. When you open this article you see a picture of six women modeling fashion forward clothing. The title of this article states “real women” leading you to believe you will click on the article and you will see “average” healthy women, not the usual extremely thin women you see in a typical magazine. But when you actually click on the article you see six large, women who would typically be considered “plus-sized”. So by saying these are “real women” and implying the stereo typical model is not in fact a “real women”. This article tells us women should look like the over-weight women in this article instead of the extremely skinny, stereo-typical model. Along with this article many recent and popular song lyrics are telling women the same thing. So now instead of media telling women they should not be like “those” models you should be like “these” models instead. It is essentially telling us the same thing as they always have been “You should be this unhealthy type of person instead of that unhealthy type of person”. On these types of topics a lot of media leads us to believe one unrealistic goal or another in order to sell one product or another.What agenda are they going to set next?

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