Analysis of a Political Ad of the US President Barack Obama - Assignment Example

Analysis of a political ad Number Analysis of the image This political advert shows the liberal views of US president Barack Obama. This ad is intended for the American voters and serves the informative purpose of helping to gauge the effectiveness of the president and his liberalist approach to vital policy issues. Letter “E” stands for the economy. Despite the fact that the president prioritizes the national economy, there has not been any serious change along these lines. Putting the issue in the farthest right corner of the ad means the current administration has yet to get it right on matters economy. The is still far from being settled despite the president’s new approach to enhance national production, exports and job creation for the millions of the unemployed youth. Regardless, the green color appearing on the letter symbolizes a number of positive steps which the Obama government has taken to address some of the most important economic issues such as his signing of a tax relief program in the last quarter of 2010, expanding welfare benefits, staying previous tax cuts, and capping the estate tax on figures under $10 million (Dunne, 2013). In addition, even though Obama’s signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 was positive in helping to secure more financial support for infrastructure development and job creation across the country, the thin red outline of letter “E” symbolizes the pitfalls that came with the seemingly positive policy. The stimulus package and the universal health care program have conspired to paint the president as a heavy spender on social development issues than the economy can sustain. The end result has been poor performance on budget deficits “BD” and with a careful integration of red and green colors coming up every time the economy is mentioned, reducing federal budget shortfalls so as to support poor citizens; education programs and the expansion of infrastructure have blurred the president’s image (Morris, 2012). Health Care is represented by “HC.” It appears very close to the economy in terms of the president’s priorities. Since 2009, the primary health care policy of President Obama is the enactment of the universal health care scheme funded by the national government. Similarly, the use of the green color symbolizes the wide reprieve that previously uninsured Americans have so far achieved under the new system. The Affordable Care Act intends to improve the health of the American citizens by enhancing the rate of enrolment in health care programs through various government subsidies and tax reliefs (Dunne, 2013). For the average citizen, the Act deserves a green color because it bans insurers from refusing applicants with pre-existing medical conditions; and permits children to remain under the cover of their parents until they reach 26. Regardless, the red outline on letter the letters “HC” is representative of the heavy cost passed onto insurance companies and the prospects of federal budget shortfalls when the program is completely rolled out in the next six years. Unlike for previous, Foreign Policy “FP” occupies the third priority under President Obama. The green color of the letters symbolizes the positive steps taken by president Obama to shift the American mindset from a military powerhouse to a diplomatic powerhouse. The use of diplomacy to fight different wars such as the nuclear proliferation of Iran and the crisis in Ukraine, for example, symbolize a new America that is determined to minimize its wars and the heavy costs that come with them. The thin red line in the president’s new approach to foreign policy is that the country is slowly being taken for granted by emerging powers such as Russia and Iran (Morris, 2012). On matters abortion “A”, President Obama has strongly voiced support for women empowerment and claims on reproductive rights. As such, the president is widely seen as very supportive of the right to take the life of unborn babies when the situation so calls. His refusal of an open government support for abortion is both positive and negative. Whereas this cuts the president’s image as one who does not care about the rights of unborn babies, in some health situations abortion is a positive idea that can help to save the mother’s life. In respect of Gay Rights “GR”, President Obama has shown the highest level of tolerance to members of the gay community since his first term in office. Despite his strong family values and support for opposite sex couples, the president has demonstrated unflinching support for same-sex marriages by abolishing previous bans on the issue, which prevented gays from coming out openly to reveal their sexual orientation, particularly among soldiers (Alterman, 2013). The president’s ban on the "dont ask dont tell" (DADT) policy, which saw many soldiers being relieved of their duties for openly expressed their gay statuses is both good and bad: it is positive (green) because it allows soldiers to serve the country without any fear; and negative (red) in that, having self-confessed gays working alongside straight officers reduces force cohesiveness in the battlefields. President Obama’s liberal immigration (I) policy is arguably influenced by his African roots. In mid-2012, for instance, President Obama through an executive order, barred his government from pursuing repatriations or suing foreigners who are in the country illegally, particularly those who came to the country as children as long as they remain law abiding. This way, the president has been liberal enough in his show of concern in respect of the social needs of foreigners in the country, despite country’s continuous reluctance (red colored letter I) to consider the plight of the aliens. Tax Issues “TI” represent President Obama’s handling of the key source of government revenue. His imposing of a 30 per cent tax rate on all persons generating more than an annual income of $1 million is arguably liberal. The tax policy is an act of liberalism in its loosening of tax obligations for lower earning citizens while tightening the noose on higher income earners so as to limit the gap between the two divides. However, owing to the existence of few super-rich individuals, some economists have argued that the country cannot achieve its revenue goals by ‘punishing’ the super-rich (Alterman, 2013). In addition, with heavy spending on the universal health care program and stimulus packages, the country’s billions of dollars in tax revenues have not been felt by the average citizen. Lastly, despite the president’s promises on enforcing tougher gun control (GC) policies by outlawing semi-automatic weapons and enforcing more accountability in the handling of guns, more cases of gun violence in the country demonstrate Obama’s liberal approach to national security. In light of this, constant cases of shootings in schools and other social places have dented his image. References Alterman, E., (2013). The Missing Link in Obamas Liberalism. Nation, 296(8), 9. Dunne, M., (2013). US Presidential Elections: Two Centuries of Constitutional Continuity and Political Change-With an Analysis of the Political Geography of Barack Obamas Re- election Campaign. Political Quarterly, 84(2), 265-277. Morris, L., (2012). Behavioral Pragmatism: President Obamas Approach to Unemployment. Review of Black Political Economy, 39(1), 137-154. Read More