Penate 1

Veronica Penate
Political Science 1
Professor Hamman
April 10, 2016
Midterm Project: Part 1
Obama Political Commercial #1
The first Obama political commercial I am analyzing is called The
Choice. There are several different settings in this commercial. This political
commercial starts with Obama talking in what looks like a living room while
making eye contact with the camera, there is subtle text on the screen
informing people how to contribute to Obama for America, the amount being
suggested to contribute is $10. During this beginning seen there is very
calming and pleasant music in the background, Obama is introducing his
Plan by first telling the people that they have a choice between two different
ideas, before he introduces his idea he talks about Romneys top down
approach and states that it has been tried and that it hasnt worked, he says
its what caused the mess in the first place. After briefly explaining why
Romneys approach isnt a good one, Obama goes on to present his own
approach. While explaining his approach he takes his time and visually
represents it, while doing so the setting changes from a living to a kitchen
table, where Obama is recorded talking to a family, the family looks
interested in what Obama is saying, they are all just listening and look very
impressed, none of them make eye contact with the camera during this
scene as they look like they are listening to Obama say something very
important. During the kitchen table scene text on the screen appears that
says The Presidents Plan: Strengthen the Middle Class, therefore it is
implied that the family he is talking to is a middle class family and by the
looks of the dining room it looks like a middle class setting, during this scene
the music changes to a more upbeat positive sound. After the kitchen table
the setting changes to where Obama is filmed in an office desk writing, there
is also text that appears during this scene that says The Presidents plan:
Pay Down Our Debt which implies that he is working on a plan to pay off our
own debt, he looks very invested in what he is writing and doesnt make eye
contact with the camera during this scene. The setting changes to a school
or a library; it definitely is an educational setting in which Obama is talking
to young scholars. Text appears on the screen that says The Presidents
Plan: Invest in Education which is implying that that is what hes talking
about the young students about. The music stays the same, upbeat and
positive. The setting then is changes into a manufacturing cars setting in
which Obama and an employee hug and look really happy, the caption on
the screen changes to The Presidents Plan: Invest in Manufacturing. This
suggests that Obama and the worker hug because she is grateful that he
wants to invest in manufacturing. The setting then changes to an outdoor
setting in which there are solar panels and Obama is talking to two men in

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suits. The text says The Presidents Plan: Invest in American Energy, this
suggests that the gentlemen and the President are coming up with a plan on
how to conserve energy. The setting then comes back to the initial setting, of
Obama in a living room making eye contact with the camera; the music is
still positive and upbeat, Obamas talks to the camera in a very personable
way. Then the screen turns black and the word Forward appears in big bold
white letters. In the bottom it says that Barack Obama approved the
message and Obama for America paid for it. In the final scene Obama is in a
rook full or diverse people, smiling shaking hands with one of them, the text
then changes to Read the Presidents Plan: BarackObama.com/plans.
I think the producers of the political commercial want the viewers to
think that Obamas plan for America is the best one. What makes me think
this is that Romneys plan is dismissed as a not so good one in the beginning
of the commercial. Then Obama presents his plan and everything is so
upbeat and positive which gives the viewer the sense that Obamas plan is
the right one. The producers also want us to see that Obama is for the
people because a diverse bunch of people is seen in this video interacting
with the president. They want us to welcome Obamas plan and to pick
Obama over Romney when making The Choice at the voting booth. I feel
like this ad is effective. To begin with he presented a part of Romneys plan
and counteracted it. This means that if anyone was thinking that Romneys
plan was good Obama gave him or her direct reasons to see why it wasnt so
great. Another reason why I felt as if this political commercial was effective
was because it was so personable and it was something that many
Americans can relate with, there was a display of diverse people and diverse
key issues that many are concerned with; Obama is portrayed very humbly
and actively working on his plan while talking to different people who his
plan would directly affect. Obama is seen as an approachable man who cares
about the well being of the people of America. This video is a positive
reinforce that Obamas plan is the best one for our country because he is
taking a different approach to different problems that the United States had
been dealing with for a long time. This appeals to the average American.
Obama Political Commercial #2
The second Obama political campaign commercial that Ive decided to
analyze is completely different from the first one. This one is called It Begins
With Us and it is recorded as if it is made by the people. To begin with there
is a brief slideshow of a small town and the American Flag, the music is very
positive and calm and on the screen there is a very subtle caption that tells
American voters where and how they can contribute $10 to Obama for
America. The first person to speak on this film is ED from North Caroline, we
know this because once he appears on the screen his name and place of
birth are placed in the screen as well, he is filed talking in what looks like the
outside of his house, ED is a white elder male. Quickly the scene changes to
a familys kitchen. The family consists of a mother and father and two kids,
one male, one female. It looks to me like they are a middle class family in the

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comfort of their own home; they appear to be a Hispanic family, then quickly
the scene changes to only the mother talking, her name is Gladys and she is
from Nevada, according to the caption in the lower corner. Then the video
changes from Gladys to Katherine from Colorado talking to the camera in the
comfort of her kitchen. Katherine is a white female in her late 40s or 50s.
The video scene then changed to Obama in an outdoor podium talking to a
crowd of many people with American flags in the background. They show a
clip of Obamas first campaign when he wasnt polling very strongly and
emphasize how he is now the president. Then there is a group of teens in
their living room; they look like college students talking to each other about
how they feel about Obama. Then it changes from the group to one of the
young boys names Mike talking to the camera saying how he wasnt able to
vote the first time but that now he will be able to reelect him. The video then
changes from the same people I just described to several other professionals
expressing how the people must get energized to vote and that they need to
be involved with the voting process. One thing that stands out to me is that
ED states that he doesnt agree with Obama on everything but that he trusts
him. Throughout the commercial everyone states a reason why Obama
appeals to them and everyday people are seen spreading the word about
Obama and voting and being active through the campaign process. In the
end of this political commercial we have the words on the screen It begins
with us. And then 2012 barackobama.com the music maintains the same
throughout the video, a positive sound.
The political commercial wants to encourage Obama supporters to go
out and actively support him by spreading his plan and voting. The whole
point is not to leave anything to chance and to make your voice heard while
voting. This encourages people to actively support what they believe to be
the right choice for America. The fact that Obama doesnt even talk in this
commercial is a way of personally appealing to the audience, because it isnt
Obama telling people to go out and vote, it is other diverse everyday people.
By looking at his political commercials throughout this process I have noticed
that diversity is displayed in many of his commercials. I think the
commercials want us to go out and vote because they are portraying people
who are actively involved in the process as the example of how as a nation
they can re-elect Obama. I feel the ad is effective because the point is
simple, the ads primary purposed isnt to turn people into Obama
supporters, its primary purpose is to make sure that Obama supporters go
out and vote and spread the word about him. I feel that it is effective
because if you already agree with Obama and know that you will vote for
him, this will diminish the thought that some voters might have in which they
think that he is going to win anyway and that voting isnt that important. This
highlights the importance of voting and of peoples voices being heard.
Romney Political Commercial #1
The first Romney political commercial that I will be analyzing is titled
Too Many Americans. Because I have already analyzed my Obama political

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campaign commercials I can already observe many differences between the
two and how they get their points across. This particular Romney political
campaign commercial is fast and straight to the point. The song played in
the background isnt happy and upbeat or positive. Instead, it is a slow
worrisome song. Mitt Romney is the only speaker throughout the entire
political campaign commercial. He speaks straight to the camera/public. He
seems to be doing so in the comfort of his home or office, its not very clear
because the background is blurred out and the focus is on Romney. The time
of day is daytime because it seems as if natural light is lighting up the room
coming in from windows. Romney also talks about Barack Obamas plan not
working, and he states that his will work. At the end some words come out in
the bottom of the screen that say Paid for by Romney for President, INC,
Approved by Mitt Romney. Then his logo comes out and there are links to
donate and to learn more about Mitt Romney. This clip is quick and
straightforward, there arent any interactions with Mitt Romney and the
people. I think the reason for his straightforwardness is that he portrays
worrisome for the American people because according to him things havent
gotten any better since Obama became president of the U.S. Because
Romney feels as if Obamas plans havent worked, he portrays a sense of
urgency to the American people in which he presents his plan and says that
it will work.
I think the producers of this political campaign commercial want
American voters to focus on Obamas flaws and see that we need a new
president urgently and that the new president we need in order to make
America better is Mitt Romney. What makes me say this is the sense of
urgency throughout the commercial and the sound of the music in the
background and the fact that Mitt Romney is blaming Obama for the U.S.
peoples economic problems and stating his plan briefly of how he is going to
turn the economy around. I think this is effective because it is enough to get
people to research about the economic state of the U.S. I think the sense of
urgency and the assumption that were in trouble may cause people to
become worried about the economy and where it is going. Which would
cause them to research and validate Mitt Romneys points to see if he is
right. I personally had never seen this commercial until now; I hadnt really
paid attention because I was too young to vote back then. But I am getting a
sense of how politicians get their points across. Obama did in a very positive
personable way, while Romney didnt in this particular commercial. In the
video Romney sounds as if hes talking business and talking serious politics,
while Obama sounds as if hes talking to family and interacting with them.
Perhaps these differences made Obama more successful than Romney.
Nevertheless this political commercial can get people to research about the
economy and then pick to support someone after research, it can also appeal
to people who believe in Mitt Romneys strategies and disagree with
Obamas plan.
Romney Political Commercial #2

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The second Mitt Romney political commercial that I will be analyzing is
completely different than the first, and completely different from the two
Obama political commercials that I previously analyzed. The tittle of this
political commercial is No, I Cant. To begin with there is a slideshow of
diverse college students facing the camera that arent saying anything, they
look unhappy and you hear Obama saying class of 2009, class of 2010,
class of 2011 and class of 2012 every time he mentions a different class,
a different student appears looking straight at the camera unhappily, aside
from hearing Obamas voice there is a sad song playing in the background,
its not only sad but by the way that the song correlates with the students
face expressions great disappointment is portrayed and felt. Then once
Obamas voice stops the students are once again shown taking turns
expressing their feelings about being falsely led by Obamas slogans such as
Yes we can and about things getting better, after that a short clip of an
interview that Obama had is shown in which he says that the most important
thing hes learned is that you cant change Washington from the inside. Once
Obamas clip is done the attention goes back to the students who said the
words no, I cant? in a shocked voices. After that they confess to have
voted for Obama in 2008 and their disappointments in having done so. After
that another Obama clip is shown, this one is from his 2008 presidential
election speeches, in which he is expressing that is anybody ever says that
something cant be done that they will prove them otherwise because they
can. After this clip one of the students appears on the screen and says, I
didnt vote for this, and they immediately show the clip in which Obama
said Washington cant be changed from the inside again, at this point the
music in the background finally starts changing from a sad, disappointing
tune to a more positive one, one that represents hope as you correlate it with
the images of the students holding signs up saying that they stand with
Romney, two different students say that we need Mitt Romney, one says it in
English and the other in Spanish. In the last and following scene one of the
students says that Obama is right about him not being able to change things,
but that we cant afford four more years of him. Then the Romney logo is on
the screen along with a button of where to donate and a button of where to
learn more.
I think the commercial producer wants us to feel disappointed in there
not being drastic changes in the 4 years that Obama was president during
his first term. I also think it wants us to think that there havent been enough
changes, and that we need things to change immediately. I think this
because this is what is highlighted through the commercial, not only by what
the students are saying but by the Obama clips that are shown in the video
in which he is saying that he cant change the white house from the inside
and contradicting it with the clip in which he said Yes we can. I think that
this add is effective to a certain extent. Its effective when showing it to
people who are frustrated about there not being enough changes in Obamas
first term, its also effective in getting people to think about what Obama has
or hasnt done to change the United States for the better, but it is not

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effective in telling the public why Romney is the right person to vote for. This
political campaign commercial focuses on the negative and even shows clips
of Obama contradicting himself, but it fails to express why Mitt Romney is
the better candidate. Just because the students disagree with Obama doesnt
mean that Romneys ideas are the better ones, especially because the
students dont state reasons why they are supporting Romney other than the
fact that we need change. This is appealing to people who are already
Romney supporters and this can get people to do some research about the
candidates policies and plans for the U.S. but it is not enough information to
intrigue someone right away to vote for Romney or to be impressed by his
plan because his plan isnt presented at all.
Additional Thoughts
This assignment has been very interesting and I liked being able to
analyze how the two candidates got their points across. It seems to me that
Obama preferred to show positive videos, in which he interacted with the
people. He did mention why Romneys plan wouldnt work, but he focused
more time on talking about why his plans would work. On the contrary I
personally feel as if Romney took a different approach, on in which he
invested much time focusing and talking about Obamas flaws rather than
focusing on portraying why his own plan would be effective. I understand this
could be connected with the fact that Obama had already been president for
four years and Romney had a lot to work with as far as analyzing the terms
in which Obama had been president.

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Works Cited
Mitt Romney For President, INC. "No, I Can't." YouTube. September 24, 2012.
Accessed April 10, 2016. https://youtu.be/TIqdyLmeV28.
Mitt Romney For President, Inc. "Too Many Americans." YouTube. September
27, 2012. Accessed April 10, 2016. https://youtu.be/ky45CrITPFc.
Obama For America. ""It Begins With Us"" YouTube. April 3, 2011. Accessed
April 9, 2016. https://youtu.be/f-VZLvVF1FQ.
Obama For America. "The Choice." YouTube. July 23, 2012. Accessed April 8,
2016. https://youtu.be/FBorRZnqtMo.