-- 5 -- Politicians and Elections

Elections, a critical centerpiece of any democracy, describes a function of governemtn by which the wider, general public cast their votes to determine the future of the country’s leadership. Within the United States, elections take many forms, and are visible from local to state to national levels. Nationally, representatives to the senate bodies are elected in midterms, parties hold primaries, and once their terms end, Presidents can be challenged or succeeded in the General Election. Among the ever-present landscape of national politics, elections, being major political events, garner widespread attention and audience and large amounts of money are pooled into campaigns. This near festive-like quality renders elections a critical crossroads in US politics, a time where leaders are created and broken. This time of change also impacts citizens, with many rekindling an active interest in politics or policies which they support, leaders to back, or issues to press. Elections, in sum, are a critical juncture in any political career, and their call for citizens’ voices is precisely what grants them such potent influence over them. Such patterns can be seen in the recent General Election of 2016, in which outgoing President Barack Obama paved the way for the new President, a spot contested chiefly between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump. In a hotly contested election, which garnered much attention worldwide and domestically divisive, Trump prevailed through a majority in the electoral college, despite losing the popular vote. An outcome seen in the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush, the rhetoric and campaigning witnessed overall proved to be explosive, further dividing the political landscape of the country. During the 2000 election, contested between Gore and Bush, both candidates used fiery rhetoric, strong campaigns, and real-world issues to garner support, and the election was overall extremely close—a Florida electoral standstill was even decided by the Supreme Court! Among the advertisements used by both candidates to promote themselves are the following campaign videos by Gore and Bush, respectively. GORE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGwMvYOIvGs. BUSH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FxL242-z6I. Both videos describe each candidate as desirable, and the most effective candidate to address the issues and solutions presented in each respective video—issues that pertain most to the wider audience and the general American public by the turn of the Millenia. Al Gore focused on education in the US, with a roster of solutions, including smaller classes, more funds, and better incorporations of technology, to address slowing performance. Bush, on the other hand, focuses on the added importance of people themselves in deciding social security policy and resource use in local settings, contrasting the more overall social welfare policies of his opponent. In general, these contrasting points showcase the different needs of different people within the country, and how political leaders may play on such needs, especially within certain settings or circumstances, to gain the most momentum in elections.