Agenda-Setting and the Presidential Election Essay

Campaigns in politics are important in determining outcomes and inform the voters who remain undecided. Also, campaigns matter because although the candidates or media officials may know what the outcome will be, the voters themselves do not (107). Aside from campaigns, conventions are also important, if not more important. Party nominating conventions affect the apathetic, uninterested electorates who think conventions are interesting and exciting, often known as the Olympic games of politics (121). This experience for voters can carry influence, and is a time of “intense political learning” (129). Therefore, aggregately, conventions make public opinion meaningful because the citizens who watch make an informed decision about a candidate, and have facts about why they will vote for that candidate. The chief reason why individual public opinion is meaningless during presidential elections is the “nonattitudes.” Nonattitudes are survey responses made up on the spot during an interview by a respondent who has no attitude on politics (113). Therefore, these individuals diminish the value of public opinion because we hate inconsistency and this creates an abundance of views on issues. However, during election night, exit polls support why aggregate opinion is also important. Exit polls are meaningful because one hundred percent of those leaving the polls have voted (102). Therefore, we can get real results from the electorates and this makes collective public opinion

Over the years Campaigning in the U.S. has changed drastically because of technological advances, the internet, social media, and the real-time information sharing across the globe. One study suggest that over the years, examining 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012, political advertising has become more negative. The Wesleyan Media Project’s charts states and 2004 election 45 percent of the ads were negative, where in 2012 about 65 percent of the ads were negative.1 There are many speculations on why these negative ads are increasing with every election, but one fact is that campaigns can use negativity to bring attention to a certain topic and sometimes benefit from the free media coverage if the controversy is popular enough.

How presidential candidates present themselves in the media can be proven to impact election results dramatically. Political figure using social media did not start to become more common until after the 2008 election because Twitter and Facebook were just recently created, but by looking at data from the past two elections it shows that the news presidential candidates put on their social media can correlate with how people will decide to vote. After researching what topics political candidates post and how they present themselves in the media with election results it can be established that a candidate’s presence in social media can have an impact on how people might vote in an election. “By 2008 candidate websites were standard and campaigns

November 4, 2008 marked a monumental moment in United States history. American presidential elections were revolutionized because of the 2008 presidential election between democratic candidate Barack Obama and republican candidate John McCain. After eight years, President George W. Bush., Americans were waiting for, what would be the key word of this election - change. The U.S. had the opportunity to witness history with either the first African-American president or first female vice president. It was a full year of pricey campaigning, nationally broadcasted debates, and party strategies, media controversies involving candidates and their families. It also was a year where America realized how the Internet can affect an election. In June

Susceptible to manipulation, some American people have become so influenced by their political parties, the parties’ opinions trample original thought. As Kevin Drum comments, Republicans “hate the idea that Barack Obama is responsible for a pretty successful program,” and “they

With the passing of the “Obamacare” act many of its recipients are legal immigrant residents that are not citizens and, those who are citizens. Many which include Hispanics, Latinos, and African-Americans, who recently suffered the high prices of medicare or medicaid, are know able to receive the necessary attention at a affordable cost. ”The law has clearly reduced broad measures of inequality," said David Cutler, an economics professor at Harvard, who served in the Clinton administration and advisor to the 2008 Obama campaign. "These are people who blend into the background of the economy. They are cleaning your hotel room, making your sandwich. The law has helped this population enormously." The number of immigrants and minorities in the country will continue to rise, and these people are seeking opportunities that are not available anywhere

Romney describes how every hard working American deserves a better future. He argues that America has been in an economic downfall and if a new president is not elected,

The political infrastructure of America has remained consistent with the ideology of a representative republic, essentially the masses choosing representatives who then decide whom they want as a leader of the fine country under the notion of said candidates ideologies, religion, and promises upon election. Every four years, America holds an election to determine the Commander in Chief, an honor of prestige and status. The duty of a President is to obey the best interests of the country, utilizing their power in order to handle the issues that plague the nation. Planetary issues such as gay marriage, immigration, and marijuana particularly, same-sex marriage, the construction of a wall near the southern border, and medical marijuana.This essay aims to display the arguments/stance that each presidential candidate has towards such issues, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and serves as an analysis of their determined stance.

America was now concerned with the economy. In his first term he had faced a recession where the government was forced to bail out automakers and banks. He was also well known for pushing the affordable care act ("Barack Obama Biography").The Democrats ad campaign consisted of painting Romney as an elite, disconnected from the needs of most Americans. In a time of high unemployment they were running ads like “The Cheaters” saying Romney invested in companies that sent jobs overseas(”2012 Obama VS. Romney”).

In a 1980 debate against Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan touched upon a core concern of the American electorate by asking one question: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” (Healey and Lenz 2014). Political scientists have long debated what sways voters in presidential elections, and whether a candidate’s campaign and personality can transcend the economic fundamentals that face the nation. Although a slew of statistical studies and literature argue on both sides of this debate, a historical analysis demonstrates that economic fundamentals drive general election results. A range of studies show that the electorate responds to economic performance, although voters’ measures of economic well-being tend not to be simple summary figures like GDP growth over four years. The economy impacts the election in a more nuanced fashion. Firstly, voters tend to place a notable amount of weight upon the election year, with other periods playing less of a role in their decision making. Secondly, the metric used to evaluate economic prosperity should be a broad sweep of the voter’s perceptions, rather than a particular macroeconomic statistic. In order to match these theories with examples, we see historical incidences of incumbent parties with the odds

Obama focused on the forte alliance of his help from minorities, women, and young voters. All of which were never going to help, Mitt Romney, seeing as he was for the Republican nomination. “The president’s victory was a triumph of vision, not of demographics. He won because he articulated a set of values that define an America that the majority of us wish to live in: A nation that makes the investments we need to strengthen and grow the middle class. A nation that believes that we’re most prosperous when we recognize that we are all in it together” (Benenson). President Obama proposed a progressive image that directed on this notion that there is a secure future for the average American and their family. Mitt Romney’s team was focusing on the Republicans, the cooperation’s of the world, and because of this the middle class and the everyday people easily had President Obama’s vote. In his 2010 book “The Audacity To Win,” Obama’s 2008 Campaign Director, David Plouffe explained that the goal of the campaign was not only to ensure high participation and turn out from the Democratic base but also to expand the size of the electorate by mobilizing first-time voters among young adults and minorities” (Nisbet). President Obama was the first president to use Twitter and Facebook to his advantage, and this made a major impact. “President Obama won re-election, not

At the conclusion of President Barack Obama’s historical consecutive terms in office there is going to be a large number of candidates that are vying for the nominations of the respective parties. Due to the constitutional term limits imposed on the President, Obama is barred to seek re-election in 2016. While there are about 10 candidates running for the republicans, there are only two still in the running for the Democratic Party. The way candidates are recognized by their respective parties to become a candidate for the United States Presidency is first by receiving an invitation to compete in the primaries, then being included in the nationwide polls, as well as being on the ballot for at least 75% of all states. At the conclusion of the February 1st caucus there were 3 Democrats and 10 republicans who were still in the Presidential race, since then one Democratic candidate had dropped out.

The election process in the United States is a valuable process to the election of the proper officials to satisfy the people. The people run the country which is why we live in freedom because we control what happens with major decisions by choosing whom we want to decide these decisions. The whole country goes to vote on a certain day and by the end of that day we will vote to select who will run the country, state, county, or city political positions. The most complex decision and one with the biggest impact are selecting who the President of the United States shall be. We examine what their views are and who would do a better job. Then vote in our respected states with a certain number of electoral votes

In sharp contrast to past elections when candidates campaigned in-person, the 2016 election has been significantly mediated through mass media. With such a large influence on voters, the media not only determines which issues and events are salient in voters’ minds, but also how voters evaluate candidates. Moreover, media coverage, depending on its content, can influence whether voters think about candidates in terms of campaign issues or candidate attributes.

The 2012 presidential election finally reached its conclusion late Tuesday night on November 6th, as the incumbent Barack Obama won a second term in the White House over the challenger Mitt Romney. The election, with its reputation as the most expensive presidential race in history, attracted wide attentions not only from the United States but also from many other countries around the globe (Confessore & McGinty, 2012). The election was also noted with a numerous number of debates and discussions in both online and offline about the two candidates’ policies and pledges on every level. However, while a lot of attention was paid to the candidates’ verbally expressed speeches and pledges, the candidates’