Today in class we watched following famous campaign ad put out by LBJ in 1964:
We talked about this as an example of enthymeme, a type of rhetoric that lets us “fill in the blanks.” However, there are numerous other rhetorical strategies that can be employed in political ads, and I’ve rounded up a few below.
While you might not realize it today, not all political ads are negative. Eisenhower in 1952 and JFK in 1960 both had catchy jingles to bring in votes.
Of the two, I think I like Ike’s better. It’s just a little catchier. Otherwise, there’s really not a lot of policy discussion going on in these.
Now it’s time to go negative. First up Nixon’s challenger, McGovern, is attacked on his defense spending:
This is a pretty straightforward ad that comes right out and says: “McGovern will cut defense spending.” I particularly like the simple toy imagery here.
In the next ad, Hubert Humphrey finds Spiro Agnew hilarious:
Unfortunately, Humphrey would never be asked to play the Joker.
If you’ve been watching CNN’s “Race to the White House” series (narrated by Kevin Spacey), these next two ads may look familiar. In the 1988 election, Bush did a great job of first setting the agenda to focus on security instead of economic concerns, where Dukkakis was more confident. The first ad, the famous “Willie Horton” ad, was not actually released by Bush’s campaign. The second focuses on a strong, lasting image with the revolving door.
I’m reminded of some postmodern theories like Postman’s, which focus on separating context from imagery. The campaign also featured what could be considered several “pseudo-events,” including the infamous attempt to stage shots of Dukkakis driving in a tank.
Next, Reagan takes a different approach, appealing to patriotism.
Clearly, people who don’t vote for Reagan most likely hate America.
To look at a non-presidential ad, in this ad, Dale Peterson wants your vote for Commissioner of Agriculture. This ad has everything. It appeals to patriotism, threatens you with “illegals busting in by the thousands,” and accuses his opponent of stealing signs and taking illegal bribes. He even gets in some ad hominem action, calling his opponent a “dummy”.
My favorite part is the way he silently pulls out the rifle at :51.
Finally, here is what most people would agree is the greatest political ad ever created:
I think this would be considered an enthymeme.