Virginia Visits

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In the final days of the campaign, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have both visited Virginia in hopes of winning the state on Tuesday. Although throughout the Campaign Clinton has been ahead of Trump in Virginia, recent statewide elections have shown closer outcomes. Their decision to spend a little extra time in the state is a good decision. Vice presidential candidate, Mike Pence, spoke at George Mason University’s campus in Northern Virginia on Friday encouraging voters to speak with one another  in order to encourage interpersonal communication with the hopes of winning Virginia on Tuesday.

Republican Family Ties

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In the last few weeks many members of the republican party have withdrawn support for Donald Trump, but as the election comes to a close supporters of the party are faced with the ugly fact that they must choose who they will vote for. In Virginia, former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillepsie, opened for V.P. candidate Mike Pence by encouraging members of the republican party to, “Come home” and vote for Donald Trump, not for him necessarily, but for the sake of the republican party. Mike Pence followed Gillepsie by making statements such as, “That man is ready, this team’s ready, this movement is obviously ready,” in order to ensure voters that voting for Trump is not an ignorant choice but a choice of trust in republican values. Pence also encouraged voters to speak with one another. Political discussions among voters could quite possibly sway discouraged republicans into voting for Trump despite their reservations. Since our interactions with one another are extremely powerful, especially in decision making, Pence encouraging voters to speak among each other is genius.

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Below is the link to the article explaining things further regarding Pence and Trump visiting Virginia.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mike-pence-urges-northern-virginia-voters-to-be-confident-on-election-day/article/2606598

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In Conclusion…

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In order to encourage members of the republican party to vote on Tuesday, Mike Pence told voters to speak among themselves and consider the future of the United States of America. Since the race in Virginia between Trump and Clinton is so close in this election, interpersonal communication between republican voters within the next few days about the election could seriously impact the turn out.

More on Emails

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Since the F.B.I director, James Comey, has recently reopened the Hillary Clinton email case, the democratic party has made several interesting decisions in order to keep all of these issues under wraps, at least until the election is over. Vice presidential candidate, Tim Kaine, has done his best to brush these issues off of Hillary’s shoulder in order to stay ahead in the race. Tim Kaine is attempting to make these email issues seem a lot less serious than they actually are, so that American citizens are not swayed into not showing up at the polls.

Ironic Timing

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Tim Kaine has been in Michigan for the past two days doing his very best to defend Clinton and the email scandal that has continued through out this 2016 presidential election. Kaine uses the style of denial apologia by not denying the accusations of the case being opened completely, but by denying the intent by which they are reopening the case. He does this by saying things like, “Now this is an unprecedented move, as your folks were describing earlier, because it happens close to an election,” which he said yesterday morning on ABC News. Kaine does an effective job of redirecting the questions by challenging listeners to think about the intent of the accusations instead of focusing on the fact that the case has been re-opened.

Stick a Band-Aid on it

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Since the 8th of November creeps closer and closer, Tim Kaine and the rest of Hillary Clinton’s campaign is doing a reasonable job at making the newest email claims seem subtle like a small scrape on the knee. As long as no new information about the emails comes into the light before the end of the election, it seems as though the democratic party may have this one in the bag.

Who Is the Liar?

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In the closing weeks of this years 2016 presidential election, campaign ads have become more and more clever. This ad in particular, that was released two weeks ago, shows the angle the Clinton campaign continues to implement in order to ruin the reputation of both Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate Mike Pence. By using an ‘attack ad’, Clinton shows Americans that vice presidential candidate Mike Pence is doing a decent job as a surrogate for Trump, by defending him in interviews, but when he is asked direct questions about his running mates’ positions during the vice presidential debate, Pence completely contradicts himself.

 

Indefensible

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This ad is clearly apart of what Edwin Diamond and Stephen Bates would refer to as phase 3 of political ads known as ‘Attack Spots,’ which are used to reduce the credibility of the opposing candidate. By using this ad, the Clinton campaign makes Governor Pence look extremely inconsistent, and the use of a ‘Negative Ad‘ in order to tear down an opponent could prove to be extremely useful at this point in the race. The Trump campaigns’ best argument against Hillary Clinton is that she is an untrustworthy liar, but this ad flips their position on its head by saying the exact same thing about Mike Pence. They may have chose this avenue in order to manipulate undecided voters minds’ to be more narrow when contemplating who to vote for.

Only One Conclusion

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The Clinton campaign does an excellent job at proving Mike Pence was making dishonest claims by comparing his answers during the debate with those of his and his running mates’ past answers to questions about things like claims made on Vladimir Putin. Hillary Clinton is known for saying things similar to, ‘Make up your own mind.’ This is an effective approach, especially during presidential debates, because it puts the ball in the voters court allowing them the freedom to think on their own. Interestingly enough, this ad does not follow that pattern.  This ad leaves the American audience with only one conclusion, and that is that Mike Pence and Donald Trump continuously contradict themselves and each other, proving that they are the untrustworthy ones.

Now Say You’re Sorry

The people of this country value respect for others when considering which presidential candidate to support, especially in this election. I am referring to both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Although these two people are our main focus within the political realm, it is also important to analyze how Tim Kaine and Mike Pence treat each other. What does the respect these two men have for one another say about their running mates? The cordial behavior these men show to one another is a mechanism used by both of them to make-up for each of their running mates behavior, language, and tone during the presidential debates.

Pence and Kaine vs. Trump and Clinton

During last Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, the two candidates disagreed about almost everything. However one thing Pence and Kaine have in common is the ability to actively listen and treat one another with the respect they deserve. During their first debate, there were significant differences in verbal and nonverbal communication among Kaine and Pence compared to the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump.

One of the most significant examples is when both Kaine and Pence are discussing the relationship between society and the police force. Both men tell personal stories in order to appeal to voters, and both of them respect each other during this time. Pence and Kaine show signs of active listening by making intentional eye contact, nodding in agreement, and not interrupting one another. Although their opinions differ, they remain cordial.

Trump and Clinton are asked a very similar question about the relationships between race, communities, and the police force, while Clinton is speaking Trump is restless. He sighs loudly, shakes his head, shifts his eyes, tells Lester Holt he is wrong, and then tells Hillary Clinton she is wrong. Clinton reacts somewhat differently. First she listens and looks at Trump, but when he is finished speaking she immediately shakes her head and sarcastically smiles. Even though she shows more politeness by listening, she immediately disregards all of the things Trump has said. Clinton knows how to cover her disrespect in more clever ways because of her years of experience in politics. Either way, these two people continue to act inappropriately.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Respect for any human is the one thing many uncommitted voters are looking for in potential presidential candidates. Trump degrades Hispanic people, Black people, Muslims, Veterans, women, and Clinton degrades Trump. The vice presidential candidates only tactic to prove to Americans that their running mates are respectful people is by respecting each other, and they did this by remaining absolutely polite and respectful to one another during their debate.

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Not to Worry

Donald Trump could not have selected a more appropriate candidate to stand alongside him during this 2016, presidential election. This is because Pence embodies almost every aspect that Trump lacks, as described by The Chicago Tribune. Mike Pence is the level-headed governor of Indiana and served in congress for twelve years. He is also one of the republican parties’ greatest advantages because of his years of experience and temperate demeanor. Pence and Trump are truly the perfect fit for each other as you can see in this political cartoon. Pence is obviously depicted as the more reliable one in this image, which would lead one to think, ‘Why isn’t he the face of the party?’ After describing himself as a ‘B-List Republican celebrity,’ one might insinuate that he is truly taking on the role of Trump’s guardian angle who stands in the background always ready to swoop in and remodel anything that might come out of Donald Trump’s mouth.

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What’s Next…

In the vice presidential debate, which airs tomorrow night, many claim governor Pence is going to have his work cut out for him because of Trump’s tax returns that were released in the past 24 hours. Some of these documents show that Trump lost about 900$ million dollars in 1995 due to bad business deals, according to Today’s Skimm.  After Trump’s decent performance at the presidential debate last Monday, we will see just how articulate governor Mike Pence is at rephrasing his fellow runners sometimes incompetent ideas and accusations. Will he be able to comfort republican voters who are torn about this decision? I guess we will see.