Politicians like to create events that give credibility to their stances on public issues. These events are known as Pseudo-Events. The book mentions on pages 319-320 three specific examples of candidates using Pseudo-Events to manipulate the media and the voting public.
The best example is Sen. John Kerry who supported an assault weapons ban but also wanted the votes of NRA members during the 2004 election. His campaign team staged a Pseudo-Event where he went pheasant hunting to prove his support of gun owners.
Think of a Pseudo-Event used in the past Presidential election, where a candidate used another person or event to support their political issues. Explain how this event helped shape public opinion about this candidate. Finally, explain how the candidate could have used another Pseudo-Event to improve their standing among the general public
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Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton utilized pseudo-events during the last presidential primary. She spent a few hours shadowing a nurse, Michelle Estrada, at a hospital in Las Vegas before settling in at the nurse's kitchen table. Over a "home-cooked" meal of comfort foods, Clinton and Estrada discussed family issues like education and healthcare with the Estrada children present.
ReplyDeleteBathed in the warm glow of the family's kitchen, it became easier to see Clinton as a candidate who valued families and could be warm and comforting. This is exactly what Clinton was aiming for. She wanted to paint a picture of herself as the candidate who cares about your family and will help you achieve the American dream.
Another pseudo-event Clinton could have used to improve this image even more would be to spend time with children. Perhaps going to an elementary school and playing with the children, attending an elementary school play or participating in a reading program with the kids. As Clinton worked to build her image as one who cares about children, she could have spent more time with them.
A possible pseudo-event that Senator John McCain used during the election was Joe the Plumber. "Joe" questioned Obama during one of his speeches about the new taxes he was proposing. "Joe" had recently owned his own plumbing company and he asked Obama if the proposed taxes would increase his taxes. "Joe" claimed that with the increase, he would not be able to afford to keep his company. The McCain camp took advantage of this and used Joe as a commentator for subsequent talks on taxes. Videos of Joe the Plumber flooded the internet and it seemed like every news channel was covering the original event and vying for further interviews with Joe the Plumber.
ReplyDeleteI think this event tried to show President Obama as someone who was victimizing the middle class as well as someone who was trying to bring socialistic ideals to the United States.
To further an image as someone who supported the middle class, Senator McCain could been photographed with blue collar workers. He could also have ditched the suit jacket and tie for something a little more laid back. He also could have shown how his tax plan would help the middle class. It would be almost impossible to completely identify any political candidate with the middle class because of the large amounts of money needed to run a Presidential campaign, but McCain could have done more to surround himself with middle class Americans in order to help his image.
The clearest example of a pseudo-event was McCain using Joe the Plumber. The thought behind using Joe was that he was part of the middle class which looked to be hurt by taxes proposed by Obama. This blue collar man was a representation of the larger population that would have to pay out more taxes to help the lower income families. McCain used Joe as a spokesperson for discussions on taxes to show the backlash of Obama’s proposed plans.
ReplyDeleteI think this Joe guy was a big factor in solidifying the republican votes against Obama that were maybe being persuaded to jump parties. People mostly seem to believe in a capitalist society and this would most likely not follow that belief. McCain got from Joe what he wanted a skewed view of Obama’s views which helped, but ultimately wasn’t enough for him on Election Day.
I believe this pseudo-event showed President Obama as someone who is going to take from the middle and upper class to help lower income. This sounded good in Robin Hood books, but in reality it is ludicrous because why should hard working people get taxed more just for doing well financially on their own terms.
McCain could have associated himself with a younger more technologically savvy person to elude the image of being an old fart who can’t figure out email. This was an image he had through the election and people thought if you can’t use a computer then how can he run a country? I don’t think any pseudo-event or person would have swayed the election from Obama because of the negative feeling of George W. Bush. Obama focused on making a vote for McCain the same as one for Bush and that pretty much sealed it for him.