Opinion and Voting Behavior in 2012 Elections - Research Paper Example

Opinion and Voting Behavior in Elections Affiliation Summary The presidential campaign for was full of major new ideas in which President Obama won worn by garnering 51.1 percent of the popular vote. His Republican challenger managed 47.2 percent and was defeated for the presidential seat according to Election Statistics, (2015). Obamas challenger Mitt Romney was a former governor of Massachusetts County. The running mate for Obama was Joseph Bidden and for Romney was Paul Ryan. The campaign before the election was financed by money raised by each of the candidates as none of them accepted the public financing that was a break of a tradition that had been in practice since 1974. The campaigns were competitive with the two spending over $1 billion in which much of the advertising was on television and was considered as negative. Instead of the campaign favoring the candidates it had some negative impact as Obama received four million fewer votes that the ones he garnered in 2008. However, he utilized the social media, which had a very big impact on the voters turnout. Romney was successive in the nomination process, and his campaigns focused on the dissatisfaction with the economic performance and other national problems. One of the national problems Romney used to influence people not to vote for Obama is the increased US debt and promised to improve the healthcare system. However, he could not explain how he would deal with spending deductions. The campaigns mainly concentrated on attacking each other rather than providing solutions for the economy. For instance, Obama team attacked Romney for opposing the Obamas initiative that had included abortion and contraception benefits under the health care plan branded as Obama care. Romney defeated Barrack Obama at the polls, and many believed that he might be the winner of the elections. He defeated most of his contenders during g the nominations and hoped to secure the presidential seat as well. Introduction The presidential election coincided with the Senate elections in which 33 senators were also elected. After the presidential votes were counted Obama emerged the winner, and Romney conceded without hesitating at 1.00am on November 7, 2012 (Election Statistics, (015). After the re-election of Obama for eight leaders expressed mixed reactions both positive and negative with some congratulating President Obama and others with tempered reactions. Obama became the third Democratic presidential candidate to win a majority popular vote in two consecutive terms. He was also the first to secure 51 percent of the popular vote in two elections since 1952 and 1956 during the time of Dwight Eisenhower. Romney lost in Massachusetts, which was his home state and became the first presidential candidate to lose in his home state since 2000 election. Worse of all, he did not win even a single county that could have been his major cause of defeat. In the 2012 presidential elections minority voters had a big impact on the winner of the election since the African-American turnout was noted as higher than the white turnout. Romney would have won the 2012 election if the turnout for the white was the same as that one of 2004. However, this did not happen as the two groups were noted to have changed their behavior of voting between 2008 and 2012. The change in the voting behavior was advantageous to Obama. One thing that was noticeable is that the group aged between 65 and over increased their turnout by a rate of 6.7 percent working to Mr. Obamas advantage according to Election Statistics, (2015). Obama also scooped 93 percent of the black peoples votes an issue that shows the presence of racial voting. The young between the ages of 18 and 24 years also voted to overwhelm for Obama as they seemed to have great faith in him. The young whites did not vote in large numbers since their voting rate dropped by 7.4 percent between 2008 and 2012 showing some lack of interest in their candidates. Mr. Romney was able to garner 60 percent of the white vote equal to the percentage votes garnered by Mr. Obama overall votes from young people. Some groups such as the Non-Hispanic whites voting rate fell by 2 percent between the 200 and 2012 polls. Earlier polls had conducted before the elections showed the Mr. Romney was leading with 49 percent while Obama was following with 48 percent (Election Statistics, 2015). However, after the polls, Mr. Obama won securing a second term in office as the president of the United States. There was a three percent of the undecided voters who could have voted for either of them on the Election Day. Several factors influenced voting during the presidential elections such as the background of the voter, their party affiliation, and their views on the government past performance. The presidential elections of 2012 were crucial ones and many whites voted for an African-American president to lead the country. The elections could lead the country to a civil era, and Obama emerged a winner. Romney lost regardless of attacking Obama over the weak economy though many felt that it was good enough to re-elect President Obama for a second term. The Obama campaigners used their money efficiently as they targeted three voters who had a positive effect. Many factors have an effect on voter behavior during the election such as the background, the party, and previous government performance as analyzed by the voter. Many of the voters knew their candidate of choice long before the start of the campaigns, and, therefore, campaigning by candidates had no effect on them. The campaigns may never sway the minds of the voters although sometimes it may lead to a substantial amount of votes that can contribute to a win. The background of voters has been noted to have the largest influence on the voters decision and the candidate of choice. The background is the voters social identity such as ethnicity, economic class, race, gender, and religious affiliation (Gardner, 2015). A candidate always conveys the message to a group of people with a theme that conveys the message to that particular audience. The theme conveys some sameness such as being of the same religion or possessing some likeness (Brewer & Powell, 2013). For instance, Obama garnered 93 percent of votes from black Americans in 2012 as they were indentified with him as belonging to the same ethnicity. Party identification also had a big influence on the votes cast for Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama. Voters are normally attached psychologically to their party, and this influences them to vote for that particular party during the elections. In America, people tend to affiliate themselves with their childhood parties such as democratic and republican (Gardner, 2015). If a child was raised in a family that was largely democratic, the child leans against that party even in adulthood. Incumbent performance is also a factor that influences voter’s decision based on who holds the position and how he or she faired during the presidential period. For instance, President Obama was the incumbent candidate as he was seeking re-election in 2012. By evaluating the national economy, citizens can decide whether to re-elect the candidate or not. Obama incumbent performance was good as the economy was doing well giving him a chance of winning for a second term. He gained the support of the ones affiliated with his party in addition to the independent candidate. The media has a big influence on the population regarding politics and governments such as television and newspapers. The media were the biggest influence on the 2012 elections especially through the airing of live campaigns. The media is very influential has it can slant the various reports or chose that stories they cover. In the US, the media increased the support for the Democratic presidential candidate in 2012 elections (Mills, 2012). Many citizens learned about politics and government from the newspapers and televisions and thus were could decide their candidate of their choice. The media provided political knowledge during the entire campaign season, and many people made their decision. The social media had a great influence during the 2012 presidential elections, especially for President Obama. He had established the social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites as part of his political campaigns (Wang, Can, Kazemzadeh, Bar & Narayanan, 2012,). Obamas online strategy was very helpful in his win, and later he twitted to many people giving his views on how he felt after the re-election. The Democratic Party and its candidate Barrack Obama took innovation and the internet to the next level as it facilitated the support for the president. Obama used one of the best strategies in the modern era by using the new media to reach many people. The online campaign was excellent, and it was of great benefit to Obama due to his powerful attitude towards the internet. Obamas team knew very well how networks work through social engagement with as many people as possible. He defeated Romney in the number of likes and rewets making him more renown to many people, especially the young people. A big political dialogue facilitated the messaging of the relevant information to the public. The individual interactions via various social media facilitated the re-election slogan of Barrack Obama. Thirty percent of the online users said that they were convinced to vote through the social media by their friends, family, and other participants. Twenty percent played a big role by encouraging other to vote, and another 22 percent posted their voting decision after they voted (Election Statistics, 2015). Familiarity with the social media turned many participants into acceptance of voting Mr. Obama as the president. Obamas campaign was able to raise $1 billion through small donations via mobile phones and the social media. Online data collection was also a big achievement to President Obamas campaign and the re-election. The campaigners could establish the group or people that could be persuaded to support Obama. The social media is a normal campaign tool and a perfect means of communication as compared to the traditional media. Various things worked for the 2012 elections and some did not during the presidential elections. Before the actual election, there were campaigns, fundraisings, messaging, demographics, and financing among others. Republicans had several difficulties with the Republicans a factor that contributed to the loss of the presidential elections by the party. If the party has to win other elections, they must improve their relationship with this ethnic group. In the Texas State, Romney won after garnering 57. Seventeen percent and Barrack Obama followed with 41.38 percent (Abramowitz Et. al, 2013). However, Obama won in various metropolitan areas such as Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The Republicans won most of the votes from the rural areas that contributed to their win over Texas State. In the state of California Obama led with 60.2 percent followed by Mitt Romney with 37.12 percent. The third candidate, Gary Johnson had 1.10 percent placing Barrack Obama on the lead to the White House. The election that was the 57th in the US coincided with the Senate elections and the House of Representatives elections (Abramowitz Et. al, 2013). The Electoral College vote was 332 against 206 for his opponent Romney. The Democratic Party took control of the Senate, and the Republican Party had a majority lead in the House of Representatives in which 435 candidates were elected. There were also elections for the delegates representing the District of Columbia and other five United States territories. Other important elections on sixth of June 2012 were the special elections for the eighth congressional district of Arizona. The election was for the replacing Gabrielle Giffords, who had resigned in January 2012 (Abramowitz Et. al, 2013). The majority of the governors were also Republicans that were the Opposition Party. New Hampshire was the first state consisting of female congressional delegation. The Democrats carried the Senate elections since they won the majority of the seats under the leadership of Obama. The year 2012 was a year of elections as there were local elections nationwide, in cities, counties, school boards, special districts and others. Conclusion Obamas win was a great moment for the Democrats and his supporters in his hometown of Chicago. Obama promised to sit down with his closest Rival Romney to talk about how they will work together to build the nation. Romney, who based his campaigns on the weakening economy of the US, came second and later conceded defeat without causing a stir. But the economy had improved a little which was a credit to Obama and many people were satisfied. Many people trusted Obama in handling the American economy than they trusted Romney another factor that influence Obamas win. Barack Obama lost by a big margin to the whites but garnered many votes from women and the blacks. Democrats maintained control of the Senate since they won in various states such as Massachusetts, Indiana, Virginia, and Missouri while the Republicans kept the House of Representatives. Obama decides to give the young immigrants a chance to live in America legally without fearing deportation and or any discrimination. The New Jersey residents voted overwhelm for Obama, who promised to handle the Hurricane Sandy. References Abramowitz, A., Campbell, J., Cook, R., Toner, M., Owen, D., Cohn, N., ... & Trainer, K. E. (2013). Barack Obama and the new America: the 2012 election and the changing face of politics. L. J. Sabato (Ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Brewer, M. D., & Powell, R. J. (2013). The Role of Religion in the 2012 US Presidential Election. The 2012 Presidential Election: Forecasts, Outcomes, and Consequences, 23. Gardner, L., Wilkinson, K. T., Merle, P. F., Cui, B., Luo, Y., Rahimi, M., ... & VanDyke, M. (2015). Press Coverage of the 2012 US Presidential Election: A Multinational, Cross-Language Comparison. In Die US-Präsidentschaftswahl 2012 (pp. 241-267). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. Election Statistics, (2015). U.S. Election Statistics: A Resource Guide (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). Retrieved 23 November 2015, from https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/elections/statistics.htmlKim, J. H., & Schofield, N. (2015). Spatial Model of US Presidential Election in 2012. Mills, S. (2012). How Twitter is winning the 2012 US election. Retrieved on January 11, 2012. Wang, H., Can, D., Kazemzadeh, A., Bar, F., & Narayanan, S. (2012). A system for real-time Twitter sentiment analysis of 2012 us presidential election cycle. In Proceedings of the ACL 2012 System Demonstrations (pp. 115-120). Association for Computational Linguistics. Read More