Last week, I wanted to know what kinds of propaganda were used by the candidates for governor in this year's election. Watching the commercials alone, I found a laundry list of fallacies and propaganda that both candidates (and the candidates for other offices) used. The most common form, which seems to be the most common in any political campaign, is this idea of name calling and attacking the other candidate without even talking about the real issues. In fact, had we not watched the gubernatorial debate in class, I probably couldn't have told you either candidate's views on any of the issues. It seems like a common pattern that after one candidate is done slamming another, the music changes and suddenly switches mood from bashful to modest. Thus the plain folks appeal kicks in. Whether it's Deeds bringing up his speech impediment or McDonnell is talking about his daughters serving in the Iraq War, it makes it's way into almost every campaign ad. My favorite ad has to be this one, which consists of Deeds making McDonnell look bad for no longer being a citizen of Fairfax County. Ridiculous? Yes.As you may have guessed, the focus this week was on the Virginia Gubernatorial race, as well as the local elections that are also taking place today. the main idea was to actually research the candidates before making a decision on which one we'd like to vote for. In class we watched a debate featuring Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell as they were questioned on their viewpoints and planks. Although I did get to learn a little about each of the candidates, I got lost during some of the questions because of the amount of loaded language that was used by the moderator. Not only did the 3-part question format confuse the viewer, but it appeared to confuse the candidates at times as well. In that scenario, they would completely avoid the question by changing the topic and throwing in an attack or two on the other candidate. This occured throughout the entire debate and was upsetting because it made it difficult to learn about the issues.
Outside of class, we were doing our own research on the candidates and lookin
g at the facts instead of the fallacies that they keep throwing out at us. The research helped greatly with deciding a candidate because it was the first time I actually understood the issues within the community and what each candidate was doing about it. I also learned what the other offices running in this election actually did. A week ago, I couldn't tell you the role of the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, or State Delegate. I'm sure a lot of Americans are still on that level, which is kind of sad when you think about it. Why should we vote for a position when we have no idea what their job in our community is?This week, I'd like to take a look at how well America is informed on what we're really voting for. I'd like to find some statistics to see how many Americans are informed on the candidates' views on the issues in any race, and I'd like to see how often we actually know what we're voting for. I'm sure what I find out will be disappointing but not very shocking.
Sources:
Advertisement. Youtube. Web.
Bob McDonnell. Photograph. Hapton Roads.com. Web.
Creigh Deeds. Photograph. The Weekly Filibuster. Web.
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