The 2012 Obama Presidential Campaign - Research Paper Example

The 2012 Obama presidential campaign Introduction This essay analyses the 2012 Obama presidential campaign. The analysis focuses on the four stages of campaign activity, namely, surfacing, nomination, consolidation, and election. Each of these stages is analyzed within one of the three rhetorical frameworks, namely, narrative analysis, fantasy theme analysis, and dramatistic analysis. The four components of the rhetorical strategy, namely, exigency, audience, constraints, and fitting response, are also taken into account. The Obama campaign had faced different rhetorical challenges at the outset: the negative turnout in 2010 which shifted the confidence of the voters from the Democrats to the Republicans; the eventual developments in the economy and national security; less control over rhetorical strategy in presidential debates and forums; and time constraints and fewer communication alternatives. Surfacing The primary purpose of surfacing is to help determine the focus of the campaign (Smith 189). Barack Obama establishes the rhetorical theme for the campaign. Running for his second term, as he travels around the country, he begins to understand the concerns of the people, begins to relate himself to those concerns, and begins to develop solutions to issues that appear to be in agreement with popular opinion. The mass media reiterate Obama’s statements and hence help transform the issues and opinions into state or national concerns. Barack Obama officially declared his re-election campaign on the 4th of April 2011 (EM Publications (b) 18). The very first communication activity they engaged in was a promotional video depicting Obama supporters mobilizing for the re-election campaign. They used Facebook and Twitter to reach a larger target audience. Even the official announcement of his re-election plan was carried out through an online video that can be viewed on his campaign website. The campaign started with the slogan ‘It Begins with Us’ (EM Publications (b) 18). Another communication strategy of the Obama campaign for 2012 was the decision to base the campaign in Chicago, where recent former U.S. presidents also based their re-election campaigns. On the 30th of April 2012, the campaign launched a new slogan: ‘Forward’ (EM Publications (b) 18). Basically, Obama had a massive campaign effort. Obama applied his 2008 campaign communications to reinforce his goals for 2012. The campaign had created comprehensive records of its supporters and had an accurate knowledge of the people it can recruit to take part in demonstrations, communicate with legal representatives, and attract others to support Obama programs. The exigencies of the campaign, embedded in their slogan ‘Forward’, were to help improve employment opportunities, health care, education, and energy autonomy of the country. The target audience of the campaign was the masses or the working class, which was also reflected in the refusal to base the campaign in Washington, DC. The main factor that constrained the campaign’s choices was the negative turnout of the 2010 election. The voters held President Obama responsible for the economic downturn, rising unemployment, poor health care system, and other issues that should be prioritized. At the time, American voters had more confidence in Republicans than Democrats on major concerns about the U.S. economy. Within the perspective of narrative analysis, the communication choices of the Obama campaign for 2012 worked persuasively. The narrative framework had demonstrated the effectiveness of evaluating and discussing changes in the political and historical situation of America. The Obama campaign concentrated its rhetorical force mainly on policy appeals. The rhetorical strategy at this stage was governed by policy discourse, particularly as regards the economy. The strength of this rhetorical strategy, based on narrative analysis, rests in its outcome, stability, and importance, and the degree to which it is rooted in the interest of the greater good: the masses. The rhetorical challenges of this stage are primarily policy-related. Therefore, the rhetorical strategy of the Obama campaign for 2012 is ‘fitting’ since it focused on policy appeals. It effectively redressed the negative public opinion in 2010 by focusing on policy areas that require the most attention: health care, education, and economy. Nominating The Obama campaign for the nomination stage took advantage of the power of the social media. The campaign took control of the digital media in order to overwhelm its Republican adversary. The campaign flooded the social media with a barrage of content, posted promotional videos on Youtube, and kept their blog entries updated. Obama’s team maintained public presence on Instagram, Google, Flickr, and other social media sites. Facebook had been an indicator of voters’ opinion and choice, and the campaign took advantage of this as well. Obama’s team had also dominated the digital media to reach potential voter groups like parents, teachers, and senior citizens. As expected, the campaign used slogan for this stage: “You didn’t build that” (EM Publications (b) 19-20). But the Republicans attacked the slogan and claimed that it was suggestive of Obama’s defense of big government. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, exploited this opportunity to attack the campaign. Obama’s team commented that the Republican attack was misleading and absolutely erroneous (EM Publications (a) 24). President Obama retaliated: “I think that you will be able to see how we conduct ourselves in the campaign. I think it will be consistent with how I conduct myself in 2008 and hopefully how I have conducted myself as president of the United States” (Gerson para 1). Thus, the major rhetorical strategy of the campaign for this stage is the forceful attack on Romney. The exigencies of the campaign for this stage were to prove to the public that the Republicans were intentionally misquoting the statements of Obama and to tarnish the credibility of Romney by providing proofs of his ruthlessness, especially in the field of business. The target audience of the campaign was the mass media, particularly independent fact-checkers like FactCheck.org. These audiences have the power to influence people’s minds, with the wide reaches of the mass media and the expert opinion of fact-checkers. The factors that constrained the choices of the campaign for this stage were the polling and economic data. The eventual developments, especially with regard to the economy and national security (e.g. the crisis in Southern Europe, the conflict between Israel and Iran), will still determine the success of the campaign. The effectiveness of the communication choices and rhetorical strategy used by the Obama campaign can be most appropriately examined through fantasy theme analysis. Fantasy theme statements were used by Obama in his attacks against the Republicans. He purposely embedded within his statements the intention, emotion, and meaning of his campaign efforts, which are also called dramatistic statements. Romney is the primary target of these dramatistic statements. One of the most stunning statements that the campaign made about Romney was his cruel business practices, which was, according to several sources, were unfounded. By demonizing Romney, Obama’s team created a fantasy where there is a hero and a villain: this made the rhetorical strategy of the campaign persuasive and powerful. The communication choices of the campaign were ‘fitting’ for the nomination stage. The difficulty of establishing the credibility of Obama over Romney, especially after the economic slump, can only be mitigated through the appeasement of the mass media and expert organizations. These sectors have the power to magnify and reinforce the rhetorical influence of Obama. Consolidation and Election In the consolidation stage, the Obama campaign mainly used debates and speeches as its communication channels. National polling data were also used by Obama’s team to prove that they successfully regained the voters’ confidence. In his speech to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Obama drew on thematic appeals like optimism, hope, pride, and success. A particular example of this rhetorical strategy is this statement (Office of the Press Secretary para 8): Now, the first time I addressed this convention in 2004, I was a younger man; a Senate candidate from Illinois who spoke about hope, not blind optimism or wishful thinking, but hope in the face of difficult; hope in the face of uncertainty; that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward, even when the odds are great; even when the road is long. The exigencies were to establish and present Obama to the public as the representative and brand of the Democratic Party and to create a thorough and cautious communication activity since first impressions last. The audiences were the Democratic National Committee, the Republican opponent, and the voters. The factors that constrained the campaign’s choices for this stage were the presence of interviewers and mediators in debates and less control over the rhetorical strategy in forums and debates. Obama’s rhetorical strategy at this point was only powerful during speeches. In terms of rhetorical strategy, the campaign was successful within the dramatistic context. The dramatistic framework states that the main objective of rhetoric is the positioning of interests and actualization of an intention. Basically, rhetoric within the perspective of dramatism is an appeal to the unconscious and the use of symbolic reality. Obama, in his speeches during and immediately after the party’s nominating convention, excessively used thematic appeals like transform, succeed, dream, destiny, unity, and others. This rhetorical strategy seemed to work effectively especially if one takes into account the reaction of the audience to Obama’s DNC speech. Every time a good rhetoric was uttered by Obama the audience frantically applauded. More particularly, Obama promotes partnership by including the American people in his speeches. For example: “Ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known” (Office of the Press Secretary para 13). Building a sense of partnership is a powerful rhetorical strategy. Obama also used humor in his speech, especially when discussing serious issues like economic deficit. For example: “They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan. And that’s because all they had to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last thirty years: Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another” (Office of the Press Secretary para 17). The use of humor effectively balances the gravity of the issue. The communication choices of the campaign for this stage were fitting, especially the speech. Because Obama does not have full control over his rhetorical strategy in debates and forums, it was a wise decision to capitalize on his absolute control over rhetoric in speeches. The speeches in fact were the communication activity that won Obama the greatest support from the American public. For the election stage, the campaign used the final speech performances of the President to communicate his ultimate message to the American people. The major communication activity the campaign used is the final performance in Iowa. Obama’s team used this opportunity to raise Obama’s chances, for the last time, of winning the 2012 election. This was an excellent opportunity for the campaign to maximize its rhetorical strategy because of the massive number of attendees in Iowa. The exigency of the campaign was to finally gain the support of the voters through entertainment, emotional and morality appeals. The audience was the thousands of attendees in Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The factors that constrained the campaign’s choices for this stage were time constraints and fewer communication alternatives. Using the dramatistic framework, the final rhetorical performances of Obama was successful. For this stage, Obama fully exploited the power of language. He used his final speeches to rhetorically promote cooperation and create emotional and morality appeals. He strengthened his rhetorical strategy by showing actual emotions, like wiping a tear in front of his audiences and demonstrating the support he has from all walks of life. He expressed his gratitude to the people and his value for partnership and cooperation: “I’ve come back to Iowa one more time to ask for your vote. This is where our movement for change began” (The Indian Express para 3). The communication choices of the campaign for this stage was fitting because given the time constraints and the fewer available communication alternatives the campaign was able to take advantage of their last remaining option: Obama’s oratorical and charismatic appeal. Furthermore, at this stage, it is advisable to pump up the sentiments of the people, inspire them, and mobilize them through words and actual display of sincerity. Obama’s speeches successfully accomplished all of these. Conclusions This essay analyzed the effectiveness of the 2012 Obama presidential campaign in terms of the four stages of campaign activity: surfacing, nomination, consolidation, and election. The analysis reveals that the campaign was persuasive and effective in the four stages. The communication activities of the campaign started from the digital and social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc) to the more rhetoric-focused channels like speeches, debates, and forums. For the initial stages, especially in the surfacing and nomination stages, the Obama campaign relied on the ability of the campaign team to muster popular support. For the latter stages, in the consolidation and election stages, the Obama campaign relied on the rhetorical skill of Obama himself. The rhetorical strategy of the Obama campaign was successful because it was able to use policy appeals, thematic appeals, and emotional appeals appropriately and accordingly. The campaign did not try to apply all these rhetorical strategies to a single stage. Obama’s team carefully analyzed the rhetorical challenges for every stage and chose the most appropriate rhetorical strategy to use. For instance, because of the negative turnout in 2010 the Obama campaign chose policy-related appeal to rebuild the credibility of Obama. This thoroughness and ‘fittingness’ won Obama his full second term. Works Cited EM Publications (a). “Obama for 2012: The Audacity of Hope Continues.” EM Publications, n.a. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ______________ (b). “2012 Election: Why Romney is poised for defeat.” EM Publications, n.a. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. Gerson, Michael. “Obama’s Betrayal.” Real Clear Politics, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. Office of the Press Secretary. “Remarks by the President at the Democratic National Convention.” The White House, 6 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. Smith, Craig Allen. Presidential Campaign Communication: The Quest for the White House. Malden, MA: Polity, 2010. The Indian Express. “Emotional Obama ends campaign in Iowa with call for change.” The Indian Express Journalism of Courage, 6 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. Read More