Throughout class discussion and assigned readings, we have learned that new communication technologies widely influence how candidates campaign today versus in the past. The influence the Internet and social media now have on political campaigns is massive and it carries tremendous weight and influence over the electorate as well. As “the Internet ranked among the top sources of campaign information” for the “first time during the midterm elections of 2006,” the use and leverage of such mediums and networks by political candidates has only grown since as the opportunities for campaigns to reach specific audiences have been targeted through this relatively new campaign strategy (Political Campaign Communication).

I decided to look at the social media platforms vice presidential candidates, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence are using for several reasons. I want to see how they are using it and analyze further what the use of may or may not being doing for their campaigning alongside the presidential candidates. Part of my reasoning for this is because we have also discussed so much in class the importance of social media campaigning with millennials specifically.

Tim Kaine

Facebook: @timkaine || 209,428 people like this page

Twitter: @timkaine || 386,000 followers

Instagram: @timkaine || 66,200 followers

Mike Pence

Facebook: @mikepence || 807,287 people like this page

Twitter: @mike_pence || 477,000 followers

Instagram: @mike.pence || 177,000 followers

If the above number of followers each vice presidential candidate has determined the outcome of the election, Pence would surely win alongside Donald Trump. However, what does this really mean? Does it mean that one candidate is just better at using such platforms? Does the engagement truly affect the election? It will be interesting to see what the outcome tonight is and consider this after the winning ticket is determined.

Looking at follower amounts, Pence has well above the number of followers Kaine has on each social media platform. However, in the grand scheme of things, it is important to point out that this isn’t that many people at all considering the number of people registered to vote in the United States. If social media is used to target millennials more so than other audiences, is that who mostly follows these candidates? Studies show that Twitter specifically has changed the landscape of the campaign. However, other studies show that millennials are using Twitter less than other platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram so why do you think the candidates have more followers on Twitter than Instagram? Do you think that these followers are mostly millennials?

Sources:

http://www.cio.com/article/3125120/social-networking/how-social-media-is-shaping-the-2016-presidential-election.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2016/06/22/new-study-finds-social-media-shapes-millennial-political-involvement-and-engagement/#4e789b8915de

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/the-game-changer-social-m_b_8568432.html

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/adhutchinson/2015-08-12/facebook-instagram-snapchat-most-popular-networks-among

Kaine Breaks Language Barrier through Rhetoric

During a presidential campaign, it is typical for a nominee to select a running mate that best compliments their political stances and improves their chance of securing the presidency after the election process occurs. As there are no split decisions in presidential elections, presidential and vice presidential candidates are on a ticket side-by-side. But how does each presidential candidate decide who to select to run alongside them during such a strenuous process? I decided to see what a few of the deciding factors were in the case of Tim Kaine and Mike Pence and to research further to see if those factors have made a difference or have actually been represented in some way as vice presidential candidates use their rhetoric to communicate with those that are best determined to be targeted by each vice presidential candidate. 

Among several reasons, one of the main factors that helped Clinton determine to select Kaine was that he was supposed to help the Democratic ticket appeal to Latino voters because he speaks fluent Spanish. For the Republican ticket, Pence was chosen in hopes that he could serve as an emissary to Midwestern and conservative voters (Fivethirtyeight.com). In this case, I decided to discuss Kaine`s Spanish speaking ability and the rhetorical use of appealing to his audiences by doing so.

Given the fact that Kaine delivered a speech entirely in Spanish at a church in Miami, it seems that he is being used by the Clinton campaign to further target Latinos, especially in a crucial state such as Florida. By implementing this strategy to speak to this particular audience and use rhetoric to appeal to them, he overcame and surely knocked any existing language barrier that this particular group of voters may have had as well as probably appealed to several other emotions as this was definitely an attempt to use rhetoric to better connect to that audience. In fact, Kaine actually made history when he spoke his entire speech in Spanish. Kaine has also spoken several other times in Spanish throughout the campaign, definitely a tool of rhetoric being employed to his and his running mates advantage in the case of winning votes from Latinos.

Sources:

Hola: Tim Kaine speaks in Spanish frequently on trail

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-clinton-and-trump-are-using-their-running-mates-on-the-campaign-trail/

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/17/498259554/watch-vp-candidate-tim-kaine-delivers-full-speech-in-spanish

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/tim-kaine-delivers-entire-speech-in-spanish-at-miami-church-229866

 

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/vp-debate04/

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Erin Shattles

Throughout class discussion, we have talked a lot about October Surprises and how they can affect the presidential candidates remaining campaign in the final days. How candidates respond to the release of whatever the “surprise” may be is very crucial to their accusation being overlooked or forgiven by the American people, especially if the surprise is inappropriate, offending, etc. When it comes to their reaction, they need to ensure that their rhetorical response is appropriate and will not further harm their chance of winning the election. As these surprises leaked to the media are a rhetorical act of another party, the candidate being targeted usually will face some kind of drama or criticism that will be meant to test their leadership or prove that they are unfit for their running role.

 
What I have discovered about October Surprises as I have been paying closer attention to them during this election is that they don’t just affect the presidential candidates but the vice presidential candidates as well. Just over the course of the last few days, Hillary Clinton`s running mate, Tim Kaine, has experienced what it is like to be a target of October Surprises. He has been threatened by WikiLeaks over Twitter. WL  has tweeted several messages directed at Kaine. On October 20, they tweeted, “We have a surprise in store for @TimKaine.” On October 23, WL tweeted again, “We have a surprise for @TimKaine” and used the hashtag #TKSurprise. See this link to read more about the Twitter threats.

 

According to CBS News, Kaine has “shrugged off” the threat and explains that he has nothing to be “overly embarrassed about” but that he does have “a temper, so I mean, I imagine I`ve got an email or two out there that people might find unusual.” Kaine also said that the motives for the WL`s releases “made the documents untrustworthy” and said that “these are connected to a Russian government propaganda effort to destabilize the election.” The rhetoric of his response seems to match the rhetoric of his running candidate who has made several comments about Russia and their role in attempting to “affect the outcome of the election.” Read this link to discover more about how Clinton`s rhetorical stance on Russia shows that she believes they are attempting to “influence our election.” To read more about what Kaine said about the threats, view this link.

What do you think about the rhetorical stance Kaine is taking on the threats towards him? Do you think he should respond differently or be more proactive? Most importantly, what do you think about Kaine matching his response to the same response his running mate has said about the Russian Government as he is trying to relay the same rhetorical message she is when it comes to the Russian Government?

Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-kaine-shrugs-off-targeted-wikileaks-threat/

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/19/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-blames-russia-putin-wikileaks-rele/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/24/tim-kaine-wikileaks-warning-i-suspect-its-big-yawn/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/vice-presidential-nominee-shrugs-off-threat-wikileaks-182835074–election.html

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Erin Shattles

As I have been writing on the rhetoric of vice presidential candidates and their communication during the election process, I have started to wonder what their role actually entails once their running mate is elected into office. What are the VP candidates responsible for exactly and why does it seem that they don’t communicate with the public quite as much as the president and other politicians do? I decided to conduct a little research to find out.

I discovered that historically, the role of the VP has slightly changed over the years and varies from VP to VP. Once a VP is selected to run alongside the presidential nominee, they appear on advertisements of the campaigning president. It has also been said that the VP nomination can sometimes make or break a presidential candidates potential for winning the election. As you don’t hear from the VP as much during the election process and especially after, you still see their name alongside their running mate on posters, stickers, buttons, etc. This alone is rhetoric as their nomination functions to communicate to the audience in a way that supports their running mate. It is all presidential nominees hopes that their VP selection compliments their running position and the audience understands and views the nomination in a positive, supportive way to the potential presidential candidate. The communicative function of the VP during the election process is to better express this rhetoric of the president and ensure their communicative and campaigning function is carried out with support. But what happens after the election is won?

After the election is won, one of the VP`s main functions is to preside over the Senate and oversee various operations associated with that role, while accompanying the president and serving as a ceremonial assistant to them. A lot of times, it has also depended on their involvement before and their relationship with the president at the time. It seems that their communication once elected into office is actually more internal as they act as the preceding officer of the Senate. As their main power is the ability to cast votes responsible for tie-breaking decisions among the Senate, their main communicative function is to understand the people and support the best decisions for them while presiding over the Senate to make those tie-breaking decisions based on the communication of the people and what may be best for them.

I feel that is important to note that their job is important and although they may not communicate as much with the American people once in office, their role is still an important part to the functioning of our political system. As they communicate more internally, the rhetoric of their communication with the Senate indeed reflects decisions that are made and how our political system functions, even if we do not hear it. Check out this short video to find out more! Comment your thoughts below! What is your opinion on their name appearing on all advertisements during campaigning processes but not hearing from them as much after? If you have had experience with hearing more about VP`s after elections, I`d for you to share examples of their communication that is not so internal.

Sources:

http://www.livescience.com/5113-vice-president.html

https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-Vice-President-of-the-United-States-do

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/presidents-and-vice-presidents-jobs

http://people.howstuffworks.com/vice-president4.htm

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Erin Shattles

As the 2016 presidential race progresses, the role and support of the vice presidential candidates is further developing for each candidate and is becoming more crucial with every moment, especially in Donald Trump`s case. Through rhetorical messages and strategies, it seems that running mate, Mike Pence is going to need to be more responsible for rhetorical messages and strategies that can help positively mend Trumps 2016 presidential race.

 
As Republican party politicians and members have been rescinding their support for Trump following the release of his 2005 tape resulting in scandal, Mike Pence explained at a rally on Monday in Charlotte that “it`s been an interesting few days.” As rumors have flown speculating that Pence may rescind his support and running position alongside Trump, Pence explains that Trump is a fighter and “literally embodies the spirit of America.” Pence has expressed that “my faith informs me to hold up Godly standard, but we all fall short of the Glory of God. There`s no one righteous, other than The One.” Through his apparent rhetorical strategy of appealing to religion, Mike Pence is attempting to mend Trump`s negative image in the light of the American people responsible for voting in the upcoming election just a few short weeks away.

Regarding Trump`s negative comments, Pence stated, “I don’t condone what was said. But the other part of my faith is grace…We`re called to forgive as we`ve been forgiven”, it is made obvious to the American people that Pence will not rescind his decision to stand by Trump in the presidential election. While this rhetorical strategy of appealing to religion through the messages and image Pence is portraying through his expressed faith, some supporters may shy away even further while others may personally identify with this faith and will also forgive Trump for his actions based on their faith as well and further support his position for president.

As Pence has been known for his devout Christian faith from the beginning, one cannot help but to wonder if the campaign has played on his faith as a rhetorical strategy in a way that wouldn’t be as necessary to express so intently if Pence wasn’t running alongside Trump. Focusing on Pence`s faith, he can be seen as a softer contrast to the bold and brash Trump for rhetorical purposes of attempting to help Trump win the presidential title. Comment your thoughts on the appealing to religion strategy it seems Pence is using to help mend Trump`s campaign. Do you think it is working or not working?  Check out this link to learn more about Pence`s Christian faith and see examples of rhetorical messages he has given that further demonstrate his appealing to religion rhetorical strategy I have identified.

Sources: http://religionandpolitics.org/2016/10/10/the-christian-worldview-of-mike-pence/

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ES

Who`s Who?

Part of recognizing and analyzing rhetoric is to understand and interpret the communication of those providing rhetorical messages to any audience. Without knowing certain things unique to each rhetor, understanding and interpreting the rhetoric may be more difficult than if you had that existing knowledge and background information on each. Without knowing background information about each vice presidential candidate, it may be hard to understand and comprehend their specific rhetoric, especially during the first vice presidential debate that will take place tonight.

Before watching the debate, it may be beneficial to learn a little more about each vice presidential candidate because according to The New York Times, “polls show that roughly a third of voters have no opinion or have never heard of each running mate.” Even our very own GradyNewsource at UGA asked students on campus if they knew who the vice presidential candidates were and found the same overall results. Check out this link to see the video of our own peers at UGA who did not know who is running alongside each presidential candidate.

After realizing we may need more information on each candidate, below is a small bullet list of important bits of information about each vice presidential candidate that may be helpful to know and may help better recognize rhetorical messages and strategies used by both candidates during the debate tonight.

Democratic Party Vice Presidential Nominee: Tim Kaine

• US Senator, Virginia currently serving first term
• Position of chairman of the Middle East subcommittee in Senate in July 2013
• Served as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010
• Bachelor`s degree from University of Missouri, law degree from Harvard Law School
• See this link for more

 

 

 

Republican Party Vice Presidential Nominee: Mike Pence

• Governor, Indiana elected in 2012
• Previously served 12 years as a congressman from Indiana representing the Sixth Congressional District
• During time in US HOR, he served as House Republican Conference chairman and chairman of the House Republican study committee.
• Bachelor`s degree from Hanover College, law degree from Indiana University
• See this link for more

Now that you know a little more information about each vice presidential candidate than you may have previously, take this quiz to see how well you know Tim Kaine and Mike Pence. Comment your scores below.

 

 

Sources: http://www.politifact.com/personalities/mike-pence/