I felt that the Herman Cain campaign ad was pointless. It was about Mark Block stating that he will support Herman Cain, because we need "United" back in United States. He gives no reasoning to support why we should vote for Cain. In a way, I felt that it was brilliant to a point. It got people riled up and talkinf over such a thoughtless ad. In a way I felt that it does undermine public health. Our country has so many public health epidemics we have to deal with: from obesity, smoking, certain diseases, etc. With Mark Block smoking at the end of the ad, it was almost like Hermain Cain unofficially saying that he takes public health lightly.
Depending on the poll, early poll numbers do matter. Some, like the Gallup Poll, are more credible than other polls. With a more credible poll, it won't determine who will win the elections at the end, but it can give you a pretty good estimate of who the strong candidates are. Big endorsements do matter, whether it be from a private donor or a newspaper. The more money a candidate has to campaign with, the more they're able to make themselves known to the most amount of people. Though they are significant, it also doesn't determine the outcome of a presidential election. Money can buy you a lot of things, but it can't buy you everything. If I remember correctly from the book we had to read for our book report, it was a piece of cake for Hillary Clinton to rake in the big money from donors, not Obama. But, in the end who's campaign ended up going bankrupt leading them to drop out of the presidental race? Hillary Clinton. In regards to the first article showing different types of donations, I felt it to be fair and appropriate. People who donate to political campaigns aren't always people of money or influence, and some can only donate something as little as $25.
I agree that Cain's ad was pointless. The actual script was just so generic, poorly executed, and the "intended message" just wasn't clear in the ad. It did its job in gaining interest and views, but it didn't really tell us anything about the candidate that wasn't a stock statement that could be applied to anyone.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about polling numbers, just because (as you mention) in the book we read for the course, it seemed Clinton had the upper-hand in the beginning and then ended up losing out to Obama at the end of the primaries. I think how campaigns react to the numbers might have some influence, but they're not completely decisive or indicative of an end result.
This is interesting considering that Barack Obama was a smoker throughout his entire campaign and even today has been known to smoke every now and then.
ReplyDeleteYou make some good points Leia. I too thought the Herman Cain ad was both pointless and brilliant all at the same time. It did stir things up and is drawing a lot of attention and publicity. I'm not sure how much it under minds public health because people are either going to smoke or not smoke, but it did communicate a message of choice stating that Herman Cain dances to his own tune. I like how you differentiated various polls and discussed how some have more credibility. It is also true that they can indicate who the strong candidates are and will be. As far as political fundraising, I also noticed that some people give donations as small as $25. Some campaigns have to think outside of the box when it comes to raising funds like Obama's did in the 2008 election since it takes a lot more $25 and $200 donations to equal the millions that are needed. I enjoyed reading your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Herman Cain ad was stupid and it had conflicting ideas, for better health care, but then he was smoking a cigarette at the end of the ad? What was he trying to say or come across as? I don't get his strategy, because there are much better ways to gain political attention than by promoting something people have been trying to get rid of for years now. I also agree that early polls matter, because if your last in early polls then you are last, or falling off the chart for the real presidential election. No candidate will be in last place in polls and win a presidency.
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