2008 nomination phase campaign

Political Science

Themes, Issues and Strategies:

The Nomination Phase of the 2008 Presidential Campaign

Political campaigns depend to a large extent on the public image they create for their candidate. During the course of the 2008 presidential primary season, the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and others have worked hard to present a set of themes and issues that strategists believe will resonate with the public. Such issues and themes reflect both party goals and an attempt at understanding the wider electorate. Besides the perceived primal difference between Democrat and Republic, a difference that affects candidate presentation and choice of party specific ideologies, candidates within a party must be set off from one another. Thus, while Obama and Clinton both run against McCain as Democrats against a Republican, they also confront a struggle to differentiate themselves according to specific aspects of Democratic policy and appeal. At the same time, all candidates must address the issues that strategists believe are central to the campaign itself - the Economy, Iraq War, health insurance, immigration reform, etc. Having found its particular niche, its particular take on the "top issues," a campaign next begins to gather supporters and solicit funds. By gauging the reaction of these backers, and assessing what works best in fundraising environments, a campaign team will schedule further events, plan debates, commercial advertisements, and so forth. In short, the 2008 presidential primary campaign season is like many others marketing plans - carefully orchestrated, heavily scripted, well-financed, and not averse to making more than a few statements that stretch voter credulity.

On the whole, there is little disagreement between the two parties as to the identity of the major issues: whether to keep troops in Iraq, how to fix the faltering economy, how to reform immigration, and how best to address such social issues as healthcare, gay marriage, and abortion. Further points of discussion include trade agreements, such as NAFTA, the loss of American jobs to "outsourcing," and the potential threats posed by nations such as Iran and North Korea.

These issues are easily identifiable even to those well-removed from the campaigns' intended spheres of influence, attracting the notice of foreign observers as well as Americans. At home, the distinctions are more pointed. John McCain has sharply criticized Democrats' avowed intentions to withdraw immediately (or almost immediately) from Iraq. As McCain points to the apparent success of President Bush's surge strategy, Democrats must defend their insistence on withdrawal by making other arguments about the war's futility:

Democrats' new approach is aimed primarily at framing the issue for the November elections by focusing on the financial cost of military operations and on the war's implications for the troubled U.S. economy.

With the fifth anniversary of the war fast approaching, the Democrats, citing testimony by the Pentagon's own commanders, are also emphasizing the strain on the armed forces. In addition, the Democrats contend that the war against terrorism should be waged primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq.

By using spin to present a story from a different angle, a campaign can hope to deflect negative criticism. The Democrats had formerly attacked the Iraq War simply on the grounds that it was not successful. In this case, Bush's apparent success is turned into a non-issue, the real issue becoming whether even "success" as framed in terms of financial and other political and security costs is actually worth the price of the surge, and of keeping American troops in Iraq.

The Iraq war as a bone of contention between Republicans and Democrats is but one example of the themes that characterize each of the campaigns. While McCain has emphasized his ability to be a strong "commander in chief," Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have focused more on domestic priorities. A major source of difference between the two has been the relative universality and effectiveness of their competing healthcare plans. Reacting to charges from the Clinton campaign that that his plan leaves fifteen million Americans uncovered, Barack Obama begins with the proposition that the two schemes are remarkably similar, but that his is more "empowering," in that it does not force adults to take out coverage. At the recent Democratic debate in Ohio, Obama denied that his plan left anyone uninsured while attacking Clinton for "whining" about his campaign's claims that the Clinton plan forces individuals to take out coverage whether they want it or not.

The spat reflects major themes of the two Democratic campaigns, ideas that have been played up again and again as means of distinguishing between the two contenders. Typically, Hillary Clinton has portrayed herself as the candidate with experience, citing her years in the White House and the Arkansas governor's mansion as more than adequate preparation for any future role as president. She frequently cites her work in the early 1990s on a national healthcare plan that Republican opposed dubbed "Hillary Care." On the other hand, Barack Obama's campaign managers have concentrated on the theme of "change," declaring that their candidate uniquely embodies the idea of far-reaching positive transformation. Black Enterprise magazine sums up Obama's supposed qualities as one who "transcends" race and appeals to all Americans across color, ethnic, and class lines:

America needs Obama's unifying vision. The rap on earlier black presidential contenders, including Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, was that their campaigns ultimately appealed to too narrow a swath of the electorate, dominated primarily by African-Americans and liberal voters. Obama's candidacy and message focus on middle-class tax relief, a commitment to a sensible, phased withdrawal and redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq, and public-private partnerships to guarantee health insurance coverage for all Americans, which transcends race and political labels.

The themes of change and transcendence have been central to the fashioning of Obama's image as a candidate. He is presented as highly-intelligent, well-educated, and comfortable around both wealthy upper-class white Americans and impoverished working class Black Americans. Affable and a powerful and inspiring speaker, he is a candidate who appeals to all. In contrast, Clinton was long derided for regularly changing her image. She long struggled against the public impression that she was cold and calculating. Her campaign team worked long and hard on re-casting her as caring and empathetic.

Republican John McCain draws his support principally from those who continue to back George Bush's policies, and feel that the nation has been made safer by the Iraq war, and that on the whole the president's economic initiatives have been successful. In other words, McCain's supporters oppose any large scale change. With help from President Bush, the Republican candidate was able to allay fears that he was too independent and not conservative enough, thus guaranteeing widespread support from members within the party.

By portraying himself as essentially close to Bush, McCain was able to appeal to a wider swath of the Republican electorate than his former rivals, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Huckabee appealed to a relatively narrow core of Evangelical voters, while Romney was dogged by his Mormonism, a factor that was a strong negative among those same Evangelical voters. Once the link-up with Bush had been made, and primary successes achieved, McCain was able to overcome the fundraising problems he had suffered in the early days of the campaign. In contrast, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton never lacked for sufficient funds. Indeed, at the height of his eleven primary winning streak in February, Barack Obama enjoyed the highest influx of cash ever in an American presidential campaign, purportedly raising more than fifty million dollars in the month.

Obama's enormous fundraising ability was a function of his enormous popularity and seeming ability to win primary after primary, taking majorities even in caucuses in states with few African-Americans. Such support, substantiated in campaign war chests, was taken as a sign that the candidate possessed truly universal appeal. Nonetheless, it was in the realm of the televised political debates that Hillary managed to revive her sinking financial resources. Following her standing ovation at the end of the Texas debate, and in reaction to Obama's winning streak, supporters more than doubled the amount of January's contributions to give the candidate an infusion of $36 million.

Hillary Clinton's ability to deliver a moving close to the Texas debate clearly inspired supporters with her sense of conviction, and her ability to feel their pain, and to understand their needs.

Having reached a point where they have been campaigning so long that their campaign teams intuitively understand their candidates' strengths and weakenesses, it becomes easier to schedule the kinds of events that draw the largest numbers of supporters, raise the most money, and garner the best media coverage. While debates may work in Hillary Clinton's favor, they are not necessarily an arena in which Barack Obama shines, and have not been necessary to John McCain since his eclipsing of his Republican rivals.

Barack Obama tends to prefer large rallies where his inspirational speaking style can receive full play. Many have commented on the strong emotional effect he has on his supporters, many of whom swoon and pass out at events. He commonly regales his backers with strong, repetitive phrases that carry a sermon-like quality of affirmation: "Yes we can." Obama's catchphrase has helped to attract even greater media support in the form of entertainment industry backing of the kind that appeals to the candidate's often young, white base. The musical group, the Black Eyed Peas recorded as song entitled "Yes We Can," that contains words from Obama's speeches as lyrics, and provides a powerful musical beat to his campaign while giving it the cachet of popular culture.

The media's love affair with Barack Obama recently became a theme of the Clinton campaign when, beginning at the Texas debate, Hillary Clinton drew attention to a Saturday Night Live skit in which, during a simulated debate, Barack Obama was offered a pillow to make him comfortable rather than asked the hardball questions that were hurled at his opponent.

The televised lampoon of the political debates dramatized what a great many in the public at large saw as media bias toward Obama. He was built up and encouraged, contended many, while pundits slung mud at Clinton, or rather mechanically covered McCain. Indeed, McCain too, felt compelled to fire back at Obama over the general media image of that candidate's inevitability and invincibility. McCain charged that Obama has "had a lot of empty, stirring platitudes over the years and he's been successful with them."