Reflections on the Panel

I really loved how open the panelists were, especially Mr. Finny. I thought it was great how they wanted to come and talk to high school students even if most of us cannot vote yet. I mean, it may mean they receive votes in the future, but they decided to share their time with us, which was really great.

Most of the time, politicians seem sort of far away, like they’re above the population. It was cool to see that they’re really people too, and they have to work hard and earn their way up. They really do seem to work hard. 300? 1700? That’s a lot of doors! That’s more people than I could ever imagine meeting in a month or two! It’s amazing how much they do and how completely they give themselves over to fighting for a spot, a spot they can use to pass laws and right wrongs. It really seems like a great thing to do, and they are awesome citizens for doing so.

Also, afterward, it was fun to talk with them a bit more. Newman was talking about being a minority in the House and how it wasn’t about getting things passed as much as stopping the bad. (That would explain why Congress never passes any bills!) I thought that was sort of strange, since you would think that people wouldn’t just want to use their power in the way she described. They’d actually want to get something done. I guess that’s why there are so many representatives–to balance out the wise and the stupid, politically seeking.

Reflection on the Intro to Campaign Advertisements

Nowadays, campaigns are more about knocking the opposing side down than showing your credibility or promoting yourself. At best, it might be a mix of the two. It takes negativism and also a lot of physiological tactics. For example, with negativism, the opponent is in black and white or dark colors, and the sponsor is in bright color. Even in the Eisenhower commercials, they had the normal citizens looking up-right and Eisenhower down-left so that he looked “above” them.

One way ads have evolved is that they, like all television, are more pleasing to watch. Even when people moan and groan about them, politicians have invented new ways to keep people’s attention instead of making them want to fast-forward, like the neutral colors in one example we saw. I think I’d like to do the same tomorrow–use calmer colors and a happier look. That, or use harsh negativism. That’s always fun, too.