COMM 4020 Political Communication blog

In class today we discussed an incumbent and compared the pros of that it plays in a new election. I have loosely defined incumbent as the existing holder of a political office. As we learned in class today the pros of an incumbent when election time comes for campaign ads is name recognition, money,k and they look the part. In the following ad (which I’m not sure if it is an official ad approved by Obama) gives us a perfect example of how this plays out. We all remember the difficulties President Obama faced when running for President, obviously the first non-white President of the United States of America. As the ad shows, he was instrumental in bringing Americans together no matter what race, gender, age, or economic status to stand up and vote for change. His whole campaign was centered around this idea of “change” and the people casting their vote for him in an effort to change not only the economy, but even the face of Presidency. In the ad we see President Obama as President and interacting with the American people. There is also a reflection on some of the most memorable moments of his presidency such as the oil spill. This obviously will pull viewers emotions and remind them of tragic time and how he handled himself as president. I would assume that he will do the same for future campaign ad’s and probably reinforce how he made promises and how he has fulfilled a large amount of them. Click here to view the ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIA5aszzA18

In this video from 60 Minutes on CBS it looks at how many government officials are able to leave office accumulating more wealth than when they entered, especially those that take a pay cut being in office. This story points our that when it comes to Wall Street and the illegal insider trading laws according to day traders and other people that make a living through the stock market, don’t apply to government officials. This means that any information not made for the trading public that is obtained by someone and influences trading practices is seen as illegal. According to this report, many people in Government can obtain this non public information and use it to their benefit. I believe this is a classic example of the media playing the watchdog role towards people in government. Its important to note that even if these politicians are using this information, it actually isn’t against the law according to how the laws are written. But, it still has the fundamental characteristics of showing how the media can still act as a watchdog towards issues that are based more on public opinion and morals. Just because the government doesn’t consider something illegal doesn’t mean the media doesn’t have the right to let the public know of the certain actions to determine whether or not it is something that will open eyes and spark action to eventually be taken.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7388130n&mwh=1

This story is about the press conference in Phoenix given by republican primary candidate Herman Cain in response to an accusation of sexual harassment.  This particular accuser/victim is a woman named Sharon Bialek who used to work for Cain at the National Restaurant Association.  There have been at least three other women who have made the same accusations against Mr.  Cain, but they chose to remain anonymous.  Ms. Bialek is the first accuser to accuse Cain in public. In this story Cain states that he believes sexual harassment to be a serious
matter and that it doesn’t only happen to women.  Ms. Bialek gave a very graphic description of what she alleges Mr. Cain perpetrated on her. Mr. Cain said that all of the sexual harassment accusations now surfacing are together a manufactured controversy manufactured by what he referred to as the “Democratic Machine.”  Mr. Cain went as far as saying he predicts more women will be coming forward with similar accusations that will also be manufactured by the “machine.”  We are also told that Mr. Cain has begun to “undercut” the credibility of Ms. Bialek. Cain said yes when he was asked by a reporter if he would be willing to take a “lie detector test” to prove he isn’t guilty of the allegations, but also said he would only take the test if there was a good reason to do so.  It seems that up to this point Mr. Cain is applying the bolstering and denial strategies of apologia.  He is strongly denying he has ever acted inappropriately with any of the women, accusing the women of acting on behalf of his political opponents and attacking the credibility of his accusers.

In this article the author Julian Zulizer talks about the supposed Herman Cain sex scandal. In this news story she goes on about how sex scandals have been playing a huge role in elections and politics since the 20^th century. She talks about how it is the medias job to keep the public informed about our politicians eerie past’s and what they are like. She talks about previous politicians who’s reputations have been tarnished because of sex scandals. Some of these people include John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Gary Hart. She then goes on to talk about how Herman Cain has bee surviving the scandal. She talks about how citizens don’t have high standards for politicians like there once was. She says that its also helped Cain out that the story got released a good amount prior to voting. She then concludes by saying that Herman Cain is a high-risk candidate for the Republican Party because of this sex scandal.

In our reading we learned about the media working as a junkyard dog. When the media works as a junkyard dog it means that they our out looking for a scandal and on candidates for that next big story. I feel that the media as been acting as a junkyard dog towards Cain because he was never accused of any wrong doing but yet you hear about his sex scandal all the time.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Perry was considering skipping upcoming debates, hoping to salvage his sinking poll numbers from previous bad debate performances.  Obviously he didn’t take his own advice.  Rick Perry is starting to become a political gaffe machine.  This story highlights Perry’s embarrassing brain freeze at the most recent republican debate.  When asked about which government agencies he would get rid of, Perry said “I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the — what’s the third one there?  Let’s see.”  It didn’t stop there, when he was asked again, Perry dug himself into a deeper hole saying, “Commerce and, let’s see, “I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”  After the debate, Perry immediately went into damage control.  He appeared on countless television shows, trying to explain his embarrassing gaffe.  He even appeared on Letterman to present his “Top Ten Excuses.”  It will be interesting to see how this will affect his campaign for the White House.  It is unfair to brand Perry as an idiot for his less than impressive debate performances, because he is far from it.  Rick Perry has an impressive resume as the Governor of Texas.  Everyone has their share of mishaps during a long election, but it is how a candidate handles the aftermath is what is important.

In this article discusses how Barack Obama’s idea of the jobs bill will help our economy, and how politicians have responded. Many people in congress disagree including former president Bill Clinton, who has had great emphasis on in the article.  A republican party who also disagree with Obama’s jobs bill have released an ad essentially stating that this bill is not what our society needs right now. They also show the contrast between Obama’s views and the views of Bill Clinton. Clinton is stigmatized by most people to be one of the best presidents we have ever had, so comparing and contrasting their views was a clever move by this republican party. This ad is classified as an attack ad on Barack Obama because in the ad they voice, “Political stunt, not a solution. A bill full of tax increases.” The ad sparked up a lot of controversy on both sides of the spectrum. Obama addressed this attack raised upon him by stating that “Its time to attack problems, not people.” Which I agree, politicians need to figure out what works best for our working class and stop investing so much time in downplaying someone else’s ideas. This was a good way for Obama to address this attack on him.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/09/gop-group-pits-obama-vs-bill-clinton-on-taxes/

This is not real news. I feel that the news needs stay away from things that Lindsey Lohan and people like her do. Famous people have a life that news should not cover. Although we should know what our stars are doing, movies, talk shows, and events. Court jail and personal things should stay with them. This is junk yard mail. I don’t care about what she is doing. Is the court going to make an example out of her like M vick……no. is this what we want, Yea and that’s wrong. We don’t Care that she went to court, got out the same day, and went to court. Although it is unfair that she is going to jail and getting out so fast, I don’t care. Talk about Cain or politics or REAL things that have to do with the world. They are just representing Lindsey Lohan to get attention and to keep up with the times. Cnn should be real news. Not entertainment. Please news….say that this is entertainment because it is.

We have recently discussed Herman Cain’s sexual harassment case and how his story has changed over the course of the past couple of weeks since it was brought to the public’s attention.  He is facing a serious situation where his character and personal is put in to jeopardy if he does not address his case thoroughly. This article discusses Herman Cain’s position within the scandal. Since the scandal was exposed he changed his story a couple of times and is starting to lose his credibility in the media’s eye. People in the attentive public as well as the people in the senate want to get to the bottom of this situation. However, the prolonged response is getting people fed up.  This article is conveying the anticipation of the people who are awaiting Herman Cain’s genuine response to the sexual harassment accusations. The article talks about how he needs to speak up soon or his position running for the 2012 presidency will not be taken seriously by others. This article relates to concept of priming, which is when the media sets up certain things to prime the audience to think a certain way. If Cain fails to address these accusations soon then people will not start to take him seriously, and this article can induce that notion.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/07/opinion/bennett-cain-sex-harassment-allegations/index.html

Link, http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/07/politics/cain-allegations/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Last week in class we briefly spoke about Cain’s accusations of sexual misconduct, at the time we discussed how his press conference to “clear the air” was very similar to Bill Clinton’s testimony. Both gentlemen pleaded their innocence and deemed the accusations false. This week there is yet another woman coming out saying that Cain sexually harassed her. The woman claims that she met Cain in a hotel and after a few drinks he had assured her that he would “upgrade her” hotel room. Soon after the two went to dinner together, during which Cain asked her why she was there, the woman replied that she had lost her job and her boyfriend suggested that she talk with him about a possible opportunity. The two then leave the restaurant and with intentions on driving to the potential office that she would be working, she says Cain pulled over and started rubbing his hand up her leg and toward her gentiles. Then proceeding to put her head towards his, which is where she stopped him and asked what he was doing. He replied by saying dont you want the job? She then demanded that he take her back to her hotel which he did. This story really bothers me for a number of reasons, and Im finding it harder and harder to believe his innocence if these woman keep coming up over and over. At this point Cain needs to find a way to completely come clean about these woman if he wants to be successful in running for President of the United States.

In this article it talks about protesters of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. For those of you who don’t know what the Occupy Wall Street Movement is, it is people mainly middle class and poor people who are protesting social and economic inequality. They are blaming corporate greed and believe people with money our ruining our government and economy. This movement has also made its way into down town Bowling Green with protesters. In this article it talks about how over one hundred of Occupy Wall Street protesters clashed with police in New York. The police warned the protesters that they were blocking a pedestrian walk way and that they must move. They also informed the group that its illegal to be on the sidewalk now because it was considered a hazard and they that they don’t want anyone to get hurt. The standoff between the protesters and the police lasted several hours. Several protesters were arrested. The article talks about one 18 year old female protester who was being arrested, crying, saying she just wanted to go back to her school. I feel that this huge movement of Occupy Wall Street is because of peoples feeling of political efficacy, which is the feeling that one can or cannot make a difference to the political environment.