Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Campaigns and the Media
Doc jay and I have been chatting about how awesome it is to read your reflections on this experience. WAY TO GO!!! (read: keep it up:) Several of you have made comments about the role media play in shaping public opinion and the campaign process. Have you noticed any similarities or differences between what you experienced in NH and the news coverage of the candidates since you returned? Are there any surprises in the way the media are covering candidates? Are you optimistic about or disappointed by what you are seeing? Are there any issues that you believe ought to be covered but aren't receiving attention? Just a few thoughts to add to the mix! prof. gp
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This isn't really answering your questions GP, but it is related. There's a video on CNN that I found really interesting. A family sought to have their 5 month year old baby take pictures with every presidential candidate. I thought it was a cute idea, but what I found really interesting was that they started to analyze the politicians based on the way they held her. For example the wife said she could vote for Obama based on the way he was looking at the baby from the picture (lovingly and adoringly). However, when Giuliani held the baby and the baby started to cry, he panicked and gave the baby back (bad photo op). They said Clinton was "warm and a natural". They compared Giuliani and McCain because the baby started to cry with McCain too, but instead of getting flustered, McCain just laughed and joked about losing a vote. They talk about these pictures and how you can sort of tell the candidate's personalities by the way they're holding the baby , though not necessarily being able to predicate whether they'd make a good president.
I found this video absolutely fascinating. One, it makes me ask the question: is it a fair assessment of the candidate? Can you really call Giulani cold because he was surprised by the crying baby (a baby of a stranger) that he was holding in front of cameras and fans? Is Obama really a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, or is it just the 'baby phenomenon' occuring?
Two, it also makes me realize just how much scrutiny the candidates are under. Not just by the media but also by the people. The littlest things can make them or break them for some voters and often those voters tend to be the more independent ones and the ones on whom elections often rely.
I didn't mean to make a long post out of the video, I just thought it was interesting. I think it's a cute idea to get your baby's picture taken with the next president of the United States, but using those pictures to analyze their personality style? Mmm, not sure about that.
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