Sunday, November 4, 2012

Political Essay Rough Draft


November is here and along with it we have many candidates running for office and hoping to be part of our government for the following year. Running for office turns into a hunting game, a race, a knock out therefore, any move is valid in political campaigns, especially the move of discrediting the opponent, revealing his mistakes, and brainwashing the voters. Ladies and gentlemen get ready to witness the 2012 elections, and get ready to count the most knockouts towards each party and determine who will be the winner.

            Several months before elections are here, the voters are able to notice and analyze throughout the country many billboards, commercials, announcements, handouts, phone calls, debates, news, social network conversations, songs, videos and much more and be able to decide for who they will vote next. All these types of announcements contain a powerful text that at some point and some how will reach the attention of every voter and have them analyze and think about a candidate’s actions and possible actions for this country’s future. Therefore it is the job of many political supporters to fill the voter’s head with negative ideas, mistakes, of the opposing party to discredit the opposite candidate’s image among the voters. The closer we are towards election’s arrival, the more aggressive and direct these announcements become. Not only do we see incivility among the voters with their discussions, arguments, and expressions but we also see it among the political candidates themselves. Therefore that is when it becomes the political supporters and campaigns to put up billboards on important and most transited streets to catch the attention of many and lead their thoughts towards their favored candidate.

            A billboard placed in Athens, Alabama in a transited street says the following, “If you voted for our current president in 2008 to prove you weren’t a racist, please vote for someone else in 2012 to prove you’re not an idiot. Thank you…….. Concerned Citizens of America” (the underlined words are marked in red). The message placed on the billboard has a lot to say to the voters and although some may see it funny, realistic, point proving, and truthful many other citizens may see it very insulting. First of all this billboard obviously transmits the message to the citizens or voters that our current president did not meet the expectations that the country had for him. Therefore, the association, people, or who ever put this billboard up is obviously not going to vote for our current president, Barack Obama. Second of this entire billboard mentions “if you voted for our current president in 2008 to prove you weren’t racist”, leading the message that the only reason that we vote is to prove such ideas to one another. This line also infers that the only reason why we voted for Obama is because we felt sorry for him because he was African American, to prove ourselves and those around us that we are not racist and last because we are idiots who will just follow the current and vote for the candidate that the rest of the people will vote for.

15 comments:

  1. I think you are onto something in regards to the “racist” and “idiot” comments. You can argue that the billboard is implying that people who voted for President Obama in 2008 were, in fact, idiots for voting for him in the first place. By asking people to redeem themselves (or prove they are not idiots) the billboard subtly suggests this. You can tie this argument to the incivility in politics point you are trying to make. Another point you may want to make deals with the absence of Governor Romney’s name form the billboard. Clearly there is no other person running against President Obama, so why did the Concerned Citizens for America opt not to include Governor Romney’s name in it? Are they trying to distance themselves from endorsing Governor Romney? Or are they implying that anyone would be a better choice than President Obama? Also, you might want to address why the terms “current president,” “2008,” “2012,” and “idiot” are highlighted in red. Are they trying to send a subliminal message that President Obama was an idiot in 2008 and will continue to be one in 2012? I ho[pe some of these ideas help you!

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    1. I really loved your essay because you point out the contradictions politician’s use to make people feel either “stupid” or “informed”. The ad you chose indirectly calls people stupid for voting for Obama, either this election or the last. However, if an individual were truly smart, they would already have credible facts, and definitely would not believe the first billboard they see. I believe this advertisement is to make people feel insecure in their choice. Voters believe they might have a bias opinion because they want to vote for an African-American president regardless of his choices. Of course, this is ridiculous. However, Americans value acceptance, and by making an individual feel unaccepted and stupid because they voted for Obama, I believe this ad does its job in selling its message.

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  2. I really like the concept of your essay! One thing to be aware of is run-on sentences. When there is a little to much information is one sentence the impact of the sentence is lost. Also, varying sentence structures and length may be helpful, up to you though. I really like the sign you found for your essay I think that is a strong choice. Be sure to really go into the issues that the sign brings up, otherwise I think you have a very good essay! Great concept!

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  3. This is a great topic for our next essay. The current political atmosphere is new and interesting and can lead to great discussions about race and white guilt/privilege. How do we reconcile the political process with accusations that most people only vote because of racial preferences? It's hopeless sometimes to even argue one way or another and I commend your taking on this topic with "choosing sides".

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  4. *WITHOUT choosing sides, is what i meant

    I should clarify that my first question asked is a catch-22. If you don't vote for Obama you're a racist...

    And, also, have you ever spent time in Alabama??? It really really is not fun.

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    1. Thank you so much for your comments! They really gave me more ideas of what I can talk about. I tried posting on your essay but I wasn't able to reach it and would like to ask why is Alabama not fun? Have you been there?

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    2. I spent about a month in Alabama, in Birmingham. I was really interested in the history of the area because of civil rights and all that, but people were VERY reluctant to talk about race at all, unless it was in the context of decades ago. Things seemed very stratified and it was almost like stepping back in time in a lot of ways. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr called Alabama the black hole of the universe.

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    3. Wow!! Thats very interesting.!! Do you have any idea why they're like that? Does it have to do with old days?

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  5. You are on the right track when pointing out the highlighted parts of the billboard and the word choice involved. I like how you chose this form of advertising. Being in this age, normally we see ads on TV or on the computer or tweets or Facebook statuses from public officials. But with this ad we see that the old forms of media are just a potent and deadly as any other media outlet when it comes to the elections. Not only is it surprising that this billboard was even allowed to be posted, it brings up a point that everyone might not have been so vocal about. The question about Obama being in office because of his race is something that many of us might not like to say but might be in the back of our minds. I think if you tie this to something in your essay (Not the opinion but the statics of some sort)it might help bring your point across. But I'm glad you choose this ad and hoped this helped you.

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  6. The point in the end of all this craziness is to win and these candidates will basically stop at nothing to get there. No matter what there are always two sides to every remark made, the one that agrees and the one that disagrees. You can't please everyone. I really like how you analyzed the billboard saying some words were in red, I wouldn't have noticed that otherwise. As far as developing the rest of your essay, I would suggest putting your opinion in into it, why do you think people think that he only got elected because of his race? why do you think these people are concerned? Do they have a legit side or is it all just petty? Great essay so far!

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    1. Thank you for your comment! I liked the questions you suggested I have been getting some great ideas to add to my essay, thank you. I tried accessing your essay to be able to leave some comments but wasn't able to :(

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  7. I would suggest flip floping the opening paragraph, I enjoy the suspense and skillful writing but I think you would get graded better by opening up confident and concise. The way you have arranged the ideas I think putting the last sentence first would be enough to get my point across.
    why is there an influx of info does this mean we are prepared and well educated when it comes to electing our ruler?What makes a "FAV" candidate?
    I like the ad choice, it blatantly says, highlighted in red,current president 2008 2012 idiot. They arrange it in such a way that you might not read it as a stand alone statement but an imprint will be left subconsciously weather you read it or not. University of wisconsin la crosse did a study on how color effects memory if you care to read.

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  8. Excellent analysis of this particular article. I think it's a good indication of the general trend in politics and the incivility that extends into the realm of advertising. I think your analysis could go even deeper, really try to sort through the connotative meanings behind this billboard. Maybe relate the idea of advertising as a form of slander, and how the conception of visual advertisement in popular culture and the promotion of political ideas interact. I think using this billboard alone you could dissect pop culture in some very meaningful ways.

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  9. Excellent use of our political discourse and how the use of "free speech" is nothing but a mask used for hatred. As you pointed out it is extremly racist and insulting. I would even go a step further with the 'signed' "Concerned citizens of America. It should just say "Rasist citizens of America. A reader also brought up an interesting point about Alabama, the state itself. I would like to hear (or see) further examples of how they erect or talk about the race of the president. I think it's well known that many of the people their have not changed their ways since the Confederacy, but is that a dying breed? An interesting question that you might consider adding to your essay.

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    1. Thanks that really helped (: im not able to see your essay im sure you have a good one

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