Free Custom «Election Propaganda» Essay Paper

Political propaganda can be manifested in a number of ways. The aim of propaganda use, especially in the political scene, is to portray an opponent in the bad picture in a bid to gain political favours. Name calling, use of negative ads in the media are some of the most common forms of propaganda in the modern society. In addition, use of gestures and facial expressions can also be used to convey propagandist’s intends by the contestants. Some form of propanga are very extreme, for instance, hate propaganda (Jeske and Fumerton 490).This essay bases its argument on propaganda use in a debate set up, where the debaters evade answering the what they are asked, but resort to name calling to portray their opponents in a negative manner to the audience.

In the second presidential debate in America pitting President Obama against Mitt Romney, the presidential hopefuls ‘were all over the page’ in name calling, instead of concentrating on what questions they were asked. In the debate, for instance, Jeremy Epsein, a college student wanted an assurance from Mitt Romney that after successful completion of his education, there will be a job guarantee. On the other hand, Philip Tricolla wanted to know Obama’s strategy of keeping the cost of energy to the minimum level possible. A more frank and point-blank questions came from Michael Jones challenging President Obama on why he wanted a second term, yet the ‘simple living’ has become a hardship. There were also questions on the negative impacts of job outsourcing.

Propaganda During Debate

Romney  was asked to show the difference between him and George W. Bush by undecided voter. Romney came out strong to illustrate the difference between him and George W. Bush and mentioned that he supports  technological innovation for production of more energy which was lacking in Bush’s policies. Secondly, he promises to crack down on China and their unethical  business practices. Thirdly, he talked about balancing the budget and protecting small enterprises. However, the truth is that Romney supports Republican Party policies, which go against what he claims that he will be championing. This brings out the element of propaganda which is geared towards winning the hearts of voters. 

Media Advertisement

The US presidential campaign has had many media ads, most of which are propaganda tools since they contain limited truth with so much exaggerated information. For instance, the Republicans have been running ads showing that car manufacturers are opting for outsourcing production in other countries due to bail out and government policies. There is no substantial evidence to back up this calm. This makes it a propaganda tool to scare Ohio voters from voting for the President on the basis that they will lose jobs.

Obama campaign strategies have successfully put up ads which portray Romney as a wealthy person, whose main aim is to champion the interest of the rich at the expense of the middle class (Cohen 1). These ads suggest that when Romney is elected, the middle class will suffer more. However, there is no compact evidence to illustrate these claims. This is because Romney’s business track record makes him a better candidate to handle economy for the betterment of all Americans.

Romney campaign team, on the other hand, have come up strong to illustrate that president Obama has failed to deliver his promises without actually concentrating on the possible consequances and economic conditions which might have resulted in the failure of some of the policies.

Political propaganda is a great tool of persuasion (Bernays 82). In this regard, the two presidential campaign team have come up with various propaganda elements aimed at destroying the political popularity of each other, so as to win the election. For instance, Obama team came up with an ad in which its critical content portrays Romney as a separatist leader who does not care about the 47% of Americans who do not pay domestic taxes. In conclusion, propaganda has been massively used to convince voters in the US presidential election. In this regard, the essence of genuine truth in political contest cannot be traced.