Francis Huang

Professor Hamman
Political Science 1
16 November 2015
Midterm Project Part 1: Message and Media
After watching Obamas 2012 campaign commercial called The Choice and then
watching another campaign commercial going against Romney called Weve Heard it All
Before, I felt that both of the commercials contrasted each other because the first commercial
called The Choice shows Obama sitting on a chair talking in a face-to-face manner to people
like us and informing us that everyone has a choice to make and that choice is going to influence
who becomes the president. In the commercial, there is soft instrumental music playing in the
background while Obama is talking but Obamas voice overpowers the music and he is very
straightforward in what he has to say. I think that the commercial producers want you to feel that
Obama is the right candidate to become president because of how he shared his plan with us and
telling us that we have a choice to make it happen. Obama stated that its a choice with two very
different plans and then he explained his plan out. Before he started listing out what his plan
offered to the people, he had to state the negative aspects about Romneys plan. He said that
Romneys plan was the one that created the whole mess in the first place; Governor Romneys
plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top, rollback regulations on the big banks, and he
says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit, but you know what, we
tried that approach, its what caused the mess in the first place.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBorRZnqtMo) By saying this, it already shows Obamas
opposition against Romney. After critically pointing out the flaws in Romneys plan, Obama then
states what his plan provided for the people. In Obamas plan, he listed a bunch of solutions that
countered Romneys. These are what Obamas plan offered: Strengthen the Middle Class, Pay

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Down Our Debt, Invest in Education, Invest in Manufacturing, and Invest in American Energy.
His commercial really appealed to me a lot because I live in a middle class family as well and the
way he seemed so dedicated in helping out the middle class made me appreciate his efforts in
everything that he does to ensure stability among the middle class. This ad was very effective
towards me because he reached out with his words to express how much he cares for the people
and how he is willing to help by listing out what his plan offers so people get a keen sense of
what he has to offer to make our country a better place.
In the second commercial from Obama called Weve Heard it All Before
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWdZEJW1vWY) it shows the flaws and negative aspects
in Romneys political figure stance because of what he had promised when he was governor but
never seem to have accomplished. It shows him in bad light and making him look like a criminal
because of the way he lied and failed while his term as governor of Massachusetts. He always
kept repeating himself and tried to justify his beliefs in what could better the country but not
once did he keep his word. That is what Obama and the commercial directors wanted to show the
voters. They wanted to show how Romney was not trustworthy in what he says and how he had a
lot of failure occur to him when he was governor of Massachusetts. In the commercial, it said
when Mitt Romney was governor, Massachusetts lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs (a rate twice
the national average) and fell to 47 in job creation. The one thing that caught my attention is
when the commercial said he cut taxes for millionaires like himself while raising taxes and fees
on the middle class. After hearing that, my view on Romney became very skeptical and I already
disregarded him for becoming the next president.
After viewing Obamas 2 commercials first, I already didnt think too highly of Romney
because of how he was portrayed in both of the commercials. I then found Romneys campaign

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commercial called Believe in America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koMd7WioAY0)
and the way he said that he saved Massachusetts by balancing the budget made me think that he
is lying because in Obamas campaign commercial, the commercial directors took statistics and
information from when Romney was governor and showed how much Massachusetts had went
through a tough and critical time. Also in Romneys commercial, he isnt directly looking at the
camera so it makes it look like he isnt talking to us. There was also instrumental music playing
in the background of his commercial but I feel that it was louder. I still prefer Obamas first
commercial because it was more direct towards the people and it really conveyed a stronger
message to the middle class while Romney didnt state out his plan but only wants to show a
sense of patriotism by shaking hands with people.
Another one of Romneys campaign commercial called Give Me A Break
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-21wrrmpxzE) sheds some bad light towards Obamas way
because Romney and the commercial director want to show Obama as the criminal now by
displaying how he is making the economy worse. The way the commercial puts it shows that
Obama is asking Clinton to help his failing campaign. It is mocking Obama in a negative way
when the commercial director inputs a Bill Clinton video clip of him saying Give me a break,
this whole thing is the biggest fairytale Ive ever seen. stating how Obama becoming president
is like a fairytale if it did occur because unlike Romney, Obama came out of nowhere and was
already elected as a candidate while Romney had position as the governor of Massachusetts a
while back. I feel that Romney is too confident in his commercials that he made it short and
mocked Obama in such a negative way while Obama wanted to inform us in a more informative
way instead of excessively mocking and bashing like Romney did. This commercial was only 30

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seconds long and it didnt make much sense. This ad was certainly not effective at all and it
didnt prove anything of importance to me in any way.