Electoral victors are those who excel at projecting imagery and
symbolism, but not necessarily those who offer substantive
expertise, political experience or pragmatism. Iyengar
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Candidate Image Kenneth Hacker, an expert on political images,
considers a candidate image as a sort of total impression of a
candidate held by a member of the voting public Includes issue
beliefs as well as personality considerations
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How important is image? Experts debate the importance of pure
image vis--vis other vote influences such as political party and
issue stands, but most acknowledge that it is a significant factor
in vote choice Greater for the less-well-informed
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Some critics of American electoral politics have lamented the
fact that images have supplanted the meaningful discussion of
issues in contemporary campaigns. Image- dominated campaigns are
faulted for oversimplifying issues and confusing voters.
Hollihan
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Studies have consistently demonstrated that candidate images
are very important predictors of how people will vote Hollihan The
fact that voters now are more likely to make their own choices
between candidates has been cited as at least partly to blame for
the increasing dependence on image-dominated political campaigns.
Hollihan, p. 83
Slide 8
Why is political image so important? First, it has been found
that voters react better to personal perceptions of the candidates
than to objective reality (Sears, 1983). According to Sears (1969),
"persons represent unusually simple stimuli, easily cognized and
retained (p.364). Second, perceptions of candidate traits provide
individuals with a good way to organize all the daily information
that becomes available about political issues (Kinder, 1986).
Kinder also suggested that personality traits are seen as stable
over time, and by ascribing traits to their political leaders,
individuals have some basis for gauging the reaction of their
political leadership to future demands of their office.
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Gallup
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What are the components of the image?
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Image dimensions Homophily Traits Honesty Intelligence
Independence With regard to trust and integrity, research suggests
that voters are very sensitive to a candidates physical appearance.
Hollihan, p. 94 Self-deprecating humor appreciated by voters
Non-verbal behaviors Sensitive to candidate age
Slide 16
Charisma ability to project confidence, enthusiasm, optimism,
goal-orientation, inspirational leadership, and compassion
Hollihan, p. 98 may also be one who conveys a warm and friendly
image, show seems genuine and personable, who is comfortable
speaking, and who has the capacity to speak from his or her heartor
at least has can make us so believe Must be appropriate to the
situation
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Political image Party identification Ideological commitments
Issue positions Linkages to other political figures or interest
groups Personal image Age Intellectual abilities Speaking
style
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Source: August 28, 2008 Obama Still Lags McCain as Leader,
Commander in Chief: Obamas strengths lie in domestic, softer issues
by Frank Newport available at:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/109891/Obama-Still-Lags-
McCain-Leader-Commander-Chief.aspx
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Source: July 16, 2010 Palin's 76% Favorable Among Republicans
Tops Others in GOP: Former Alaska governor's image more mixed among
all Americans by Frank Newport
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National Adults Republicans/ Lean Republican Democrats/ Lean
Democratic % Personal Qualities Honesty/straightforward 33 30 34
Integrity 10 13 7 Good moral character/family values 5 8 2
Intelligence 5 4 6 Honorable 4 5 3 Trustworthy 4 5 Christian 3 6 *
Common sense 1 Charisma * 1 Total percentage of all mentions (Note:
Results could overlap among some respondents.) 65 71 59
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Voters are especially interested in the issue of trust and the
honesty of the candidate
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How are images developed? Image consultants Advertising
Pro-candidate Anti-opposition Careful staging of public
presentation Events (may or may not be under candidate control)
News coverage Popular culture Comedians, etc.
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In plying their craft, political consultants (whom we refer to
as image handlers) take a rather formulaic approach to crafting
candidate images. Typically, polling is used to identify salient
issues on the minds of voters. The next step is to assess which of
these issues play to their clients advantage. A campaign strategy
is then devised to prime the audience on those issues, deploying
images, symbols, and phrases that will connect the candidate to
those issues in the minds of voters Grabe and Bucy
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While critics of modern campaigns sometimes argue that
candidate images are molded like clay, candidates generally do not
conjure an image from scratch. Rather, candidates present
themselves selectively to emphasize their personal strengths and
deemphasize their weaknesses. Steger, Candidate Image
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Republican Rebranding
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Managing the visuals Candidate appearance Hair Clothes
Environment Where photo-ops occur Who the candidate is with
Symbols
Three major types of candidate image bites Statesman Populist
Sure Loser Grabe and Bucy
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Media choices Variety shows Placing spots Exclusives to
journalists
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Content emphases Leadership qualities Military record Business
experience Steadfastness Relationship with current government
Maverick Outsider Successful legislator, etc.
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Rick Snyder for Michigan Super Bowl Ad
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Content emphases Compassion/care for the weak Regardless of
actual record Honesty/Integrity Scandals
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Candidates also try to frame their political role
characteristics favorably. For example, experience in government
may be portrayed as proof of a candidates competence, while a lack
of experience may be portrayed as having new ideas or as
uncorrupted by the system. Steger
Trying to influence your opponents image Baucus ad against Mike
Taylor, 2002 Senatorial race Baucus ad against Mike Taylor, 2002
Senatorial race
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Anti-Democratic Party ad by National Republican Campaign
Committee Anti-Democratic Party ad by National Republican Campaign
Committee
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Image construction may vary by medium
Slide 65
As an audiovisual medium that literally traffics in images,
television is ideally suited to convey character information.
Indeed, most news stories may be too short to do anything except
present information about the candidates character and personality
(Graber, 1987). Grabe and Bucy
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Lewis
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Images are formed, reinforced, or modified as voters encounter
new bits of information that interact with their existing
information base... a given bit of information may have different
meaning to different people, so a candidates image is largely in
the eye of the beholder. Steger
Slide 68
most voters images of candidates are affected by their party
loyalties, ideological orientations, and deep-seated political
attitudes relevant to the processing of information about
candidates. The electorate tends to see or invent what is favorable
and distort or deny much of what is unfavorable, with respect to
these prior beliefs. Steger
Slide 69
In the absence of information about the candidates, as occurs
in low visibility elections, partisan voters may construct images
of candidates consistent with their expectations and preferences.
Steger