Candidate vs Party Centered Elections

No doubt, 2008 was a historical election. Besides electing the first African American president, I think campaigning changed a lot too.

Although the presidential candidates do have responsibility to their parties, I think this election was more candidate-centered. Rudy Giuliani for example, definitely ran a candidate centered campaign while he was in the race. Although he was running for the Republican nomination, his policies were not in line with those ideals most important to Republicans: gun control, abortion and gay marriage. John McCain’s campaign was also more candidate-centered than party centered. Although he was the most conservative of the candidates, he was also most hated among the party faithful for some choices he had made previous to running, (Cohen, Page 18.) So although he held up the ideals of the Republican Party, there was still tension within. Because of this, I do not think the 2008 candidates were constrained by their net roots. However, I think candidates are always somewhat constrained by the electorate. They are the ones you’re trying to convince and if you do not resonate with them, you will not win the nomination or the presidency.

Like I said, the 2008 election was more candidate-centered and I believe that most of this is due to the internet and other technologies. In the present time, candidates seem more accessible. They market themselves using MySpace and Face book, and when their funds are running low, you get an e-mail asking to donate $5 from the candidate, not from the party, which shows that both candidates made good use of the internet in their campaign to raise money and reach potential voters, which teachout talked about. You get to know the candidate better by watching Oprah, or The View, or other soft media and you see what they are like and how they live. Soft media, which is how most people get their news, focus on the person and not the party, which has caused a shift in campaigns.

With all the good things about media though, comes the bad. Because of media, politicians and congressional candidates are much more vulnerable. With every cell phone having a video camera now, any mistake any politician makes can be recorded and put on you tube for people to view forever. If a candidate accidentally falls (Dole) or lets out an enthusiastic scream (Dean) it can haunt them forever and really harm their campaign. And congressional candidates are no exception. Since not as many people follow their campaigns, every little thing they do is important.

Image is of growing importance in all political elections, and media has created more candidate-centered elections, which can help and harm at the same time.