Memorandum

To: Smith, Presidential Candidate

From: David Galvan, Campaign Consultant
Date: April 18, 2014
Re: 2012 Presidential Campaign Analysis

The 2016 presidential campaigns will start soon and we need to have an organization that will
not only target the right voters, but will persuade those voters that are undecided. These are the
voters that matter the most because they are the ones that will have the power to switch the
election to our side. President Obama had a very successful campaign on both 2008 and 2012
and we will analyze his strategies and also focus on what Romney did wrong on his 2012
presidential campaign. We need to look at all the facts that surrounded the Obama campaign and
what made it so successful to get the vote out when the country had a very weak economy.

How Technology Helped Obama Reach Younger Voters
One of the things that Obama took advantage of was technology. Young people are the most
important demographics to vote and they are also the hardest one to convince to go out and vote.
Obama was said to spend 10 times as much on social media as Romney. He used all the
resources he could to be on all the social media like Twitter and Facebook. These two platforms
are mostly used for younger people. Obama targeted the youth by collecting data from outside
companies that tell the interest of people. These companies like Aristotle, which is one of the
leading providers of political intelligence.

Although Romney used the same tactics, it did not spend as much as Obama did. That was the
mistake that Romney did. He needed to concentrate more on those that were undecided and the
younger demographics. Younger people are too in tune with their electronics that it is a great idea
to use and target those based on their interests. By using companies like Aristotle, we can target
likely voters with ads that will catch their attention and interest.

We need to be able to use every single social media that there is in order to reach a higher
number of young voters. Many people are changing from Facebook to Instagram and Twitter.
These three social media are essential to reach the demographics needed to win the election in
2016.

According Pew Research Center, 52% make up the likely voters from ages 18-29. These voters
lean to vote democrat compared to 39% who identify themselves as republican. The Obama
campaign was able to engage the younger voters by social media and having those voters share
and talk to their peers and get them to go out and vote. On the other hand, the Romney campaign
did not concentrate enough on this demographic. We need to talk about the issues that matter to
them in order to engage them in politics. Although the Obama campaign, was not able to
engaged them as much as he did in 2008, his get-out-the-vote helped them tremendously with the
help of younger voters (Greenberg, 133).

How to Address Issues that Matter to Americans
Our country is going through so many social, economic and foreign issues that we need to
concentrate mostly on issues that affects the American people directly. For example, in order to
target the older population, we need to assure them of engaged them on the issues that matter
most to them: retirement, medical, medicare.

Also, the gender gap between those that vote democratic or republican. Romney lost the female
vote to Obama, mostly because of the social issues that concern women. In order to engage this
demographic, we need to let them know that our campaign and candidate cares for their issues
and address their concerns. Pew research states that 52% of female voters lean democrat
compared to 40% who lean more republican (Greenberg, 133).

Another demographic that the Romney campaign basically ignored, is the Hispanic population.
They are the fastest growing minority in America and they essential for future elections. For the
2016 election, we need to focus on addressing the issues that matter most to Hispanics. Jobs and
immigration are the two main issues that Hispanics cared the most. The Pew research also shows
that 64% of the voting Hispanic population leans to vote democrat. The Obama campaign
addressed the issue and made promises to the Latino community, while Romney seemed hesitant
to agree with what matter most to them. The growth of the Latino population is key to winning
upcoming general elections. In 2012, the Hispanic vote went 71% to Barack Obama.

Obama Connected With Voters
One of the things that we saw during the 2012 campaign is how candidates were able to connect
with voters. Romney was always viewed as a businessman who did not care about middle class.
His famous comments about the 47% were an opportunity for the Obama campaign to prove
their point that Romney did no care about lower-middle class. Obama was viewed as cool by his
voter base. This helped him connect with voters in a way that Romney was not able to do.

After analyzing different videos from both the Obama and Romney campaigns, we noticed that
Romney tried to connect with voters in the video called Believe in America. On this video,
Romney is presented as a businessman but they make it seem as if he was one of the regular
guys. This ad was not effective because it seemed that Romney was trying to hard to connect
with voters. What we need to do in order to connect with voters is what Obama did. He showed
that he cared about the welfare of American people. He went out and met with them and looked
like a regular guy. On one of the Obama campaign videos called Go, Obama presented how
the economy is growing and how much more work there needs to be done. In an election
campaign where the economy is troubling, Obama was able to conned with people and in a way,
bringing back his 2008 slogan of HOPE. On this video, Obama connects with those struggling to
find work, by saying at the end of the video Were not there yet, its still hard for too many.
He assured voters that his job was not done yet.

Romney failed to convinced voters that he is a job creator because his ad Right Choice made
those that were unemployed unsure of what will happen to them if he were to win. The benefits
that they were receiving might just stop and that failed to help Romney connect with poor voters.

Demographics in Swing States
Two of the states that Obama won in both the 2008 and 2012 elections are Ohio and Virginia.
These two states are states that can go either way and Obama was able to win both.

According to the 2012 census data, Ohios poverty level is at 12.3%. This demographics tend to
vote more democratic because the democrats are for more government aid. Romney needed to
address the issue to this group in order win the group. Again, Romneys stand on welfare hurt
him. According the the Pew Research, 56% of people making less that $30,000 vote democratic
compared to 34% that vote republican. In the state of Virginia, poverty level is at 9.2%.
Romney also failed to connect with those voters.

Another group that tends to vote democrat is those with secondary and post-secondary education.
Pews states that those with a high school diploma or less 49% nationwide vote democrat. In
Ohio, the population with secondary education is 87%. Again, Romney needed to connect with
this demographic with the technology available. This group is more involved with social media
like Facebook and Twitter. We need to address this group by connecting with them and be part
of the technology era with them.

Obama was successful to engage this group by addressing that matters to young people like
education and college cost.

Also, female voters were a big issue on the campaign, Romney, made some mistakes when he
said binder full of women this statement made women feel as if they were just property instead
of valuable workforce. Obama, however, address the issues that mattered to women, like equal
pay and the right to choose. Obama was able to connect with them and it was evident on election
night. Romney was short 12% of the female vote compared to Obama.

In Virginia we can see the same trend. The 18-24 population is about 50%. 25-44 is about 64%.
While those with a secondary education is higher than Ohio at 86.6%. Again, these groups are
essential to the campaigns in order to win the states electorate votes.

Female voters in Virginia make up about 71.1% according to the 2012 census. The ethnicity rate
of Hispanics in Virginia is higher that Ohio. 8.4% to 3.3% respectively.

For this upcoming 2016 election, we need to focus on what important to these groups and
address their concerns. We need to let them know how we will solve the problems that hurt them
the most without jeopardizing our beliefs. The Obama campaign was very successful because it
used very wisely and very efficiently the resources of the internet available to the majority of
Americans.
Works Cited

Greenberg, Edward, and Benjamin Page. "Public Opinion." In The Struggle for Democracy.
Boston: Pearson, 2012. 122-159.

PBS. "How Campaigns Amass Your Personal Information to Deliver Tailored Political Ads."
PBS. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics-july-dec12-frontline_10-29/ (accessed
April 19, 2014).

YouTube. "Go." YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0OVngTHkNg (accessed April
19, 2014).

YouTube. "Mitt Romney Campaign Ad 2012 - Believe In America." YouTube. https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=koMd7WioAY0 (accessed April 19, 2014).

"Watch now: PBS NewsHour | Obama Spent 10 Times as Much on Social Media as Romney |
PBS Video." PBS Video. http://video.pbs.org/video/2305745720/ (accessed April 19,
2014).