For our discussion blog this week, I want you to take a look at an article I have included below about Joe Biden's campaign plan. After reading this article and thinking about the plan the Obama administration is devising to win reelection, I want you to tell me your plan. If you were working for President Obama, what would be your plan for reelection? Which demographics would you target? What states would you focus a large amount of campaigning in? Please give me a clear vision of what your particular plan would be.
Biden's Reelection Campaign
14 comments:
This is a rare occasion, but I would have to agree with Maggie on this one. I think I would also take the same appraoch as Biden. Like Maggie stated, there are certain states that will most likely vote Democratic so those areas should not be of as crucial of attention as others. THey should, of course, be focused on somewhat, but the main focus should be on the so called "swing states". States like Ohio and Florida are very important in winning election, or in Obama's case: re-election. I think if I were in this situation, I would definitely alter my Healthcare plans to not completely go against a large group of people (just typing this makes me want to go off about disliking Obama). I would make sure that only the encouraging and strong aspects of my healthcare plan were brought forward and I would revise I good majority of it to try and please a more vast majority, leaving specifics out until later on. I think Obama has a good plan for re-election and knows the gist of what to do in his election campaign.
My plan for re-election would strictly be centered around getting Ohio and getting the attention of the southern states. His incumbency advantage is still great and something Republicans should still worry about. Obama should continue to focus on the 18-24 year olds since they are young voters who will easily be swayed instead of older Americans. He already has captured the attention of these younger Americans by associating himself with celebrities, which I believe also helped him win the election in '08. Moreover, he encouraged voters to go out and become registered voters, which is something he should continue doing. Obama should also clear up any controversy surrounding his health care plan and come up with a new innovative way to not only get his ideas across, but also help the general public, which is definitely easier said than done. Lastly, he should definitely stress the split Republican party and keep using that to his advantage in his ads and speeches to really get people to see that they aren't even getting along within their own party, so what makes them qualified to run a country where you have to deal with diversity and other beliefs.
If I was planning for Obamas reelection I would focus on the division in the Republican Party. Many people are getting annoyed with the arguments in the Republican Party and it is splitting them up. I would take advantage of this and try to persuade people over to vote for Obama. I would tell people that Obama has the experience that none of the other republican candidates have and that he has learned what works and what doesn’t work over the past 4 years. I would try to convince them that the republican candidates are not ready and prepared for the role as president and that Obama has a plan to fix our country as a whole. I would mostly try to focus my campaigning around the younger voters who are unsure and might be easier to sway then other people. Also I would focus on those who are in the middle and are undecided. With the way the Republican Party is split it will be easier to sway their vote towards Obama. The states that I would mainly focus on are the battleground states. These states include Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Virginia. These states are very important to the presidential nominees because they can go either way and they usually decide who will win the presidency. Obama’s reelection will be a tough battle that he has to face, but if he is smart about it he might be able to pull through.
Since Maggie went on a rant again, I just have to say something that bothers me. I hate that Michelle Obama is all over the place. She is the first lady and needs to have some boundaries of what she can and cannot do. She is not a celebrity. She is the wife of the leader of our country! (Yes, I know Maggie would cringe at the thought of my labeling her as just a "wife"). I'm not saying she can't choose her project like all first ladies do and act on it, but she really needs to back down a little bit. She is just so public. She's always on the covers of magazines and goes on late night talk shows. It's just bizarre. I don't remember Lady Bush (haha yes I just called her that) parading around all over television and magazines. I feel like it takes away some of the respect that a first lady should have.
On with my actual blog, First of all I would never be working for Obama. Second of all if I was actually working for Obama, I would focus on states he could never win such as Texas or some of the other southern states and completely ignore Ohio and Florida. This obviously would be sabotage and I would probably be fired. Third of all, if I for some reason had a mental breakdown and suddenly became a democrat (the thought disturbs me), I would agree with Maggie and focus on battle ground states, such as Ohio and Florida. It would be for Obama to win these states since they are not solely democratic or republican states. I would also target the minorities that Obama targeted last time since it was apparently effective. Obama clearly has the support of many minorities and increasing that support would be beneficial. So I guess I would agree with Biden's plan, but if I were Obama I would hide Biden in a closet until the election is over so America can forget how brainless the next in line for president is and so he doesn't say anything to ruin their campaign.
Can I just say that I find it very amusing when everybody goes on tangents on the blog?? In response to Maggie, yes, I think that those kinds of actions are deplorable and disgusting, but also unfortunately protected by the First Amendment. Because what they put on their is only offensive and not actually threatening, there is no legal recourse that we can take for that someone. I think that the freedom of speech has to be a blanket statement because if we start to exclude any person, then as our society becomes even more politically correct, others may want to prosecute people for lesser offense. One example that I can think of is calling Caucasians white or African Americans black. We have to carefully tread the line on the freedom of speech amendment lest we list too far to one side and actually inhibit freedoms rather than protect them.
Now for the actual blog :)
I think that personally I think that Biden has the right idea. There is no reason to waste precious resources (though I'm sure Obama has plenty) on states that are either already won, or impossible to win. However, I also think that they should look at the trends as well, namely which states are key to winning the White House. I am not sure whether or not New Hampshire's votes are a game changer, but past history has shown us that if the nominee does not win Ohio, they don't have a very good chance at winning the White House. I also think that Obama needs to address the economy which, as much as he wants us to believe, has not improved tremendously during his four years in office. Yes, "unemployment" numbers are out but what is showing up instead. Polls about people who have given up looking for jobs. The housing market has not recovered yet, and Wall Street is still shaky at best. People will be starting to ask him, "Where is the change that you promised us? Why are we getting more of the same from a person who promised so much." Also, though admittedly this is none of any president's fault, people use gas prices as an indicator of the economy and when I was driving home, the Shell station by Kamm's Corner was up to $3.99! He is going to have to work very hard on that subject to gain back some of the independents.
If i were working for President Obama, which i would never do, i would target the states that i know have a major population of democrats and of minority groups. But like Maggie said, i would definitely target Ohio because they tend to vote for whoever the president will be, so i would focus on getting their vote and also going to larger states to guarantee a large amount of votes. Biden's plan of action is a good one for Obama's reelection because they are utilizing their strengths to help them, which is what they should do, if they truly want to win. But in order for him to regain the love for Americans, he needs to change or fix some of his plans, like his health care plan like Andi said. He needs to show the people of the US that he is capable of making "change" to our country and as of right now many Americans do not believe this so in order for him to win, he must go to Ohio first and foremost and then go to the other targeted states that will benefit him in his campaigning process.
I agree that the Obama Administration is right in starting his campaign now and getting a head start against the Republicans especially when it comes to the swing states. If I were working for the Obama Administration those are the states I would focus on such as Ohio and Florida. There are certain states that no matter what will vote a certain way and there is little you can do about that. Also, I would focus on the middle class and issues that effect them. In 2008, Obama was really good at getting younger citizens and people who don't usually vote to go out and vote for him. He has already gained the attention of so many people especilly the middle class, and I think that will continue to his advantage as long as he focuses his campaign on the right states and right issues
I like Biden's approach to the campaign plan for the re-election of President Obama. I think that to win the spot as President, Obama really relied on the lower classes and those who the media doesn't normally remember or focus on. Obama's campaign platform was able to relate to the middle and lower working classes of America, which is a large percentage of the American population. The Republican Party split over candidates is a perfect topic for Obama's campaign to focus on along with the economic budget of America right now. Many people think that Obama has done poorly with the budget but I think Obama would be able to point out the positive aspects of the national budget he has been able to produce in the last four years.I think Obama should also really target the right out of college age students. These students usually have open minds, rather than the concrete minds of the elderly, and if Obama is still advocating for people to sign up to vote that would relate perfect to this age group of new voters. If not already signed up, these kids would be first influenced by President Obama, creating more of a likelihood of voting for him. I think that Ohio and Florida are good states for Biden to focus on because they are considered the big 'swing states' that usually foretell who becomes president.
Like Carolyn said, I would never support or work for Obama. However, if for some reason I did support him, I would suggest that he keeps up what he has been doing. He should pay attention to the battleground states. Since Romney is pretty moderate/liberal-leaning, many moderates and some Democrats will likely vote for him. Obama should focus mainly on the states that could go either way. Obama should also focus on African Americans and other minorities. Many of his votes came from non-whites, so he should continue to seek their support. I do think that Obama needs to rethink his campaign slogans though. I still have yet to notice any "change" that has occurred since 2008 besides the fact that gas is now $4.00 a gallon. Also, I think many people have lost "hope" in him. Obama should also focus on college students, since many of them are liberals. My sister told me that he declined speaking at Columbia's commencement (where he went to college), but went out of his way to speak at Barnard College. Barnard is an all-girls school right across from Columbia. However, this is all part of his plan to gain more votes. Overall, I think he should primarily focus on the states that could go Republican or Democrat. However, I think Obama's chances of winning are getting slimmer by the minute.
I like what Biden is doing for Obama’s campaign. I think that he needs to keep focusing on the minority groups since they may not get as much attention from other candidates and appealing to minorities seemed to help him win the election a few years ago. I also agree with everyone who said that he needs to put a lot of money and campaigning efforts into states like Ohio and Florida, who could go either way. I love how Ohio is an important state for candidates to win over if they want to win. He should also definitely appeal to normal Americans, as in middle-class people. Most likely he already has the support of the lower-class and I think that he could win over a lot of middle-class Americans and that would definitely be beneficial for him. I think that Biden is doing a spectacular job running Obama’s campaign and there is not much I would change about it.
I would also like to make a quick comment on Carolyn’s blog post because I thought it was quite hilarious. I didn’t read the top part of it but I was laughing at the bottom half.
Hahaha I have to say this is an interesting blog to post Mr. Shannon, seeing as many of us have strong opinions about our President. So to complete this blog in a thoughtful manner, I am going to imagine that Obama is not the President I will be "working for". If I needed a plan to help win the reelection, the main focus of my campaign would be improving unemployment. I think that it is a vital issue that needs to be taken care of and given much attention to. I would also focus on the "attitudes" of others. What I mean by this is to send out a positive message. I would try better to get along with the other party so we could help our nation and actually get things done. I would want to show Americans that our world does not always have to be about fighting and negativity, and try to steer myself away from bashing other candidates. I know this may see silly to some, but we all get to a point and wonder why is our government trying to surround themselves with negativity(a little bashing is fun in moderation). The focus of the campaign should not be what I have done, but what I have failed to do and how can I do a better job. The focus should be on improvement not preying on the other parties weaknesses. Yes, everyone wants to win, but the President should want to win for the right reasons and want to make our world a better place. My plan would be to hit the big/very vital states of Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Pennsylvania just as the article says. I would try to target the younger population for sure. Everyone always says that the young generations hold our future and they need to be educated on the issues. There are many creative ways to teach them the importance they make in our world and why they should vote, particularly for my certain candidate.
Now in Obama's particular case if I was trying to give him advice...which he needs... I would tell him to focus on doing some damage control about all the change he has promised. I would want him to focus on the things that he knows he can do better on and how he is going to improve himself and our nation. If he wants Americans to give him another 4 years, don't be on your high horse saying what you did but focus on what you can and MAKE IT REALISTIC. Stop promising change if you can't deliver it!!! Anyways...he should focus on the minorities like he did last time but also young people,and issues that are important to old people(they do vote).
If I were working for Obama, I would first aim to control and improve all the controversial issues, like debt, unemployment, and healthcare. Once I had solid plans for those, I would figure out my target audience, which would be the people that are swayed the easiest like fresh-out-of-college students and, like Maggie said, the silent majority, which is the average middle class. Providing plans that really benefit these groups, especially lowering unemployment and providing healthcare that's affordable, will win many votes because these people will vote for the things that sound good to them. Lastly, I would choose my big target areas. I would definitely aim to win votes in the "battleground" states, especially Ohio and the southern states. Although Obama has a huge advantage due to incumbency, he has no wiggle room to slack off. He needs to come up with solid, favorable, and logical plans to bring this country out of recession. Therefore, the three areas I just touched upon: smart plans, benefits for my target audience, and spending more money on campaigns in target locations, would be key focuses for me, if I were working for Obama.
First of all, Obama can do nothing to win this campaign, because it is impossible. But if he still wants to try despite his lack of chance, he will need to round up as any voters as possible. He needs to make sure he wins certain sway states, like Ohio, because if you have those then your chances of winning the election are greatly increased. His whole original campaign that was aimed towards college students and minorities will most likely work for him again this year. Those groups make up a large part of the population, and to win the election he will need to focus his attention on those. Traveling, promising change (and hopefully meaning it) and just campaigning the heck out of America will give him the biggest chance of reelection.
If I were working for President Obama, I would, like almost everyone said, campaign heavily in states that are undecided but influential like Ohio and Florida. The demographics I would target would be middle class families who will vote for the candidate that they believe will provide them with the best future that would include financial stability and the necessary services. Obama should also direct his campaign towards very young voters because that seemed to work for him in the 2008 election. Obama should really campaign in Ohio and Florida because these states really do not always vote one way or the other and can be influenced. Obama should play to his personal strengths like public speaking while using emotional appeals and audience identification. If he appeals to Americans emotions and connects with ordinary people by convincing them that he is “one of them,” he will win the support of many middle class families who are currently struggling. President Obama should also emphasize the fact that the Republican Party is split and weak. He could say that the Republican Party does not have the people’s best interests in mind because instead of thinking what will help our country’s situation, they are fighting. If Obama talks about uniting America, he will gain support. Obama should also not refer so faithfully to “Obamacare” and the American Jobs Act he proposed because this will not allow him to sway middle of the road voters. If he includes specific details in his speeches, people will find him more credible. Also telling underprivileged voters in society that they really do have a voice will help win their support. Obama should be very specific with his plan and should not make vague and empty promises. He should also acknowledge and take responsibility for mistakes he has made.
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