Last Fall, a Communications Director for a statewide candidate for public office in Georgia came and talked to one of my Political Science classes. Over the course of the discussion, he talked about many things related to politics but one statement in particular stood out. Here is that statement in a paraphrased form:
"I'm not so much interested in policy or the party or things like that. What matters most to me right now is that my candidate wins and that voters know he is the best choice for the job."
This Spring Semester, I enrolled in Dr. Roger Stahl's Rhetoric in Pop Culture class. One of the first things we talked about was the idea of "branding" and how products are increasingly sold as "brands" or lifestyle choices/experiences rather than exclusively on the benefits of the product.
This brought my mind back to the quote from the Communications Director. Have our politicians increasingly become another "brand" during election season, marketed to the consumer culture for consumption? The consumption being voting for them on Election Day. Clearly, one political operative seemed to think so. Which then made me look not only to scholarly research on the topic but also to the opinions of the ordinary, consuming Americans who cast votes and sit through hours of political advertisements every two years. In examining this topic, a research paper was written and a survey conducted, with a case study being done on the 2008 campaign of President Obama. Hope you enjoy.