Substantial Commentary #2

It is amazing to look at the amount of money each candidate has raised for their respective campaigns in the primary elections. It is even more amazing to categorize where the funds are being allocated, such as general campaign operation expenses, television and radio commercials, billboards, etc. But what about the other needs such as hotel accommodations, food, and travel? It would be comforting to think that they live like the rest of us, however, they are staying in the finest hotels and eating at the finest restaurants, and something tells me that these candidates are not flying coach with the rest of us. I guess you could say it could be helping the economy in some odd way, that this spending on luxurious hotels and dinners is ultimately helping the troubled economy.

An editorial published in the New York Times, on February 25th, titled, Money and the People's Choices, addresses these same concerns. For example, the editorial mentions that a portion of Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign fund, totaling close to $100,000 was spent on hotel accommodation for pre-Iowa-caucus party platters. It makes me think that if she is this willing to spend this amount of money on food platters for the primary elections, what is to come if she wins the democratic primary or even if she is the next president? Will she bring our nation out of the economic scare? Or now that McCain is the front runner for the Republican nominee and his funds are beginning to fall back into his favor, will we see more spending from him?

I do believe with all this money being spent on commercials, ads, and rallies, that it has brought awareness to those of us who are not usually involved in the political world. The politically unsophisticated individuals, typically the younger generation, are becoming more aware of troubling issues and now want to get involved. Many of us have a short political attention span, so once the primary elections are over and the presidential elections start, will the population be as involved or will more money need to be spent to focus us back in the political scope? We shall see.

To see the full article that was published in the New York Times on February 25, 2008; click on the title of the article listed above.

Substantial Commentary

I believe presidential candidates are selling themselves while campaigning for both primary and presidential elections. This happens time and time again. Not only do they try to sell themselves and their ideas, but more importantly, their image. In the opinion article titled Beyond Red, White and Blue, Steven Heller explains the significance in using art in posters, banners, and messages as an attempt relate to a younger mass public.

Recently a poster was created for Barack Obama, by a Los Angeles graphic designer and street artist, Shepard Fairey. The poster is already sold out and has been getting a huge buzz on how unique it truly is. This form of campaigning is nothing new in the political world of campaigns. Presidential candidates have been doing this for years. Heller explains, the Andy Warhol impressionistic image of Richard Nixon got younger generations interested in politics again. Obama has a huge following from the younger generation and his campaign strategists are taking the proper steps to win over the young public. I believe the reason why many different generations are pro- Obama is due, in part, to his strategic campaign tactics. He knows how to reach individuals on many different levels. However, some of his approaches are not all that new and they have been used by candidates before this presidential campaign.

To see the full article from the New York Times published on February 15, 2008; click on the title of the article above. To see the artistic poster of Barack Obama; click on the artist name, Shepard Fairey.