campaigning

Cleavages enter the electoral campaign

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:18:13 +0200

In the run up to Germany's legislative elections Chancellor Angela Merkel's party seem to have given up on political persuasion and instead resorted to sex. This latest poster, revealing ample cleavage, reads: "We have more to offer".

The poster comes from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate for the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. Vera Lengsfeld's message appears to be that both her and party leader Merkel have large cleavages. The voter can only assume she is referring in an obscure way to better policies...

For the biggest election in the world, Bollywood shows the way

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:04:14 +0200

The biggest democracy in the world is heading to the polls on Thursday. And for those competing for seats in the Indian Parliament, appealing to 714 million eligible voters is not an easy job. This year the leading campaigns come in the form of cartoons, Bollywood clips and 'Slumdog Millionaire'-style mini films.

India's electorate makes up over 700 million of its 1.2 billion inhabitants - that's bigger than the US, Russia, Japan and the Philippines combined. The marathon five-stage elections, which are spread over a month (16 April - 16 May), will utilise 800,000 polling stations and a workforce of six million electoral and security employees. There are around 1,000 political parties in the country, but analysts expect a tight race between the two major parties: the right wing BJP (India People's Party) and the ruling Congress party.

French far-right claims legacy of socialist icon Jaurès

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:10:35 +0100

A candidate for the French far-right National Front party running in the June European parliamentary elections has caused outrage in France by using a portrait of socialist icon Jean Jaurès in his campaign poster.

The party's general secretary, Louis Aliot, put the posters up in the southwest Carmaux region - an area known for its loyalty to Jaurès, a former socialist leader who was famously shot on the eve of the First World War.

"For those left with nothing, their country is their only strength". Jaurès would have voted National Front.

An explanation posted on the candidate's website reasoned that "the only political party in France which defends the values of social justice and humanism is the National Front".

During the country's presidential campaign in 2007, the then candidate Nicolas Sarkozy also laid claim to the legacy of Jaurès in a dispute with a leftwing "heir of May '68".

Jean Jaurès (1859 - 1914) was the leader of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). A pacifist and socialist, but not a Marxist, some of his most notable achievements include campaigning for the release of the falsely accused Captain Alfred Dreyfus and denouncing anti-Semitism, of which Dreyfus was a victim.

The poster affair has come at a bad time for the National Front. Party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen is once again in the spotlight for denying the Holocaust. Just months before the European elections, the 80-year-old nationalist leader repeated that gas chambers were "a mere detail in the history of the Second World War".

Campaign shockers that keep Le Pen in the media spotlight are not a rarity for the far-right party, and don't come as surprise at a time when the party is in desperate financial straits and rapidly losing support.

US 08: rich pickings for political communication

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:21:26 +0100

This year's race to the White House has seen the most aggressive and expensive election campaigns in history, with video clips taking shape as the best weapons.

Egged on by each other, it was soon established that the initial frontrunners (Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney) would be fighting their causes, and criticising those of their opponents, by summoning up topical, funny, and convincing video clips in record times. Largely distributed online, the clips became an all-encompassing means of persuasion for candidates desperate to get into the White House. If you think John McCain's 320 videos is a lot, it's nothing on Barack Obama's 1820. So it's no wonder that despite over 18 months of bombardment, we're still discovering some gems in the catfight treasure trove. Here's our selection of the best...

Voting for the glory of Satan?

Ed Mazza — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:51:53 +0100

So why do people vote? As one new tongue-in-cheek ad suggests, it could be for the glory of Satan. Or maybe to stop same-sex arrangements among hogs.

A nonpartisan ad aimed at getting voters in North Carolina to vote has become the latest viral hit of the presidential campaign.

According to the News and Observer, the ad was made by Scott Jacobson, who used to work for news satire show "The Daily Show," and Dave Willis, co-creator of the oddball cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

The point of the ad is to make sure you vote, if only to cancel out your weird neighbors.

The candidates are also of course using ads to make their closing arguments as we head into the final weekend.

John McCain's Republican National Committee is now sending out this ad:

And Barack Obama wants to make sure voters are reminded of George W. Bush when they think of John McCain:

Obama sneaks into video games

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:11:19 +0200

Photo taken by Dragunov 765 and posted on "Rooster Teeth".

Dragunov 765 loves playing Burnout Paradise, the Xbox racing game. However, he didn't expect to find himself staring at a Barack Obama campaign poster after he rammed his car into an electricity pylon.

Puzzled by the Vote For Change.com publicity appearing on a billboard in the middle of his game, Dragunov 765 decided to take a photo of the screen and posted it on the Rooster Teeth forum on 6 October, leading to a small polemic online.

It was confirmed by Electronic Arts (EA), the company behind the game, that the Obama campaign had indeed paid for in-game advertising. Holly Rockwood, a spokesperson for the company told the blog: "Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates. Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams."

Obama has bought space in nine games, including skating and basketball games, where he appears on the ads around the court floor. Launched on 6 October, the campaign hopes to get the votes of young men in the key states by pushing them to register online for early voting.

The bizarre lottery of an Argentinean candidate

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:46:17 +0200

A Peronist local election candidate is organising a tombola to fund his campaign. First prize: breast implants.

Jorge Robador came up with the unusual idea in order to finance his electoral campaign. And he's got it all planned out. If the lucky winner of first prize is male, then he can offer the breast enhancement operation to his wife, or receive the equivalent in cash. The tickets cost 30 pesos each (around €7) and are on sale in a kiosk opposite the church in the main square of Rioja, the capital of the province with the same name. Ticket holders just have to wait for 20 December, when the grand draw takes place. One of our Observers in Buenos Aires explains that in Argentina, it's not as crazy as it sounds.

"Joe the Plumber" enters the debate

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:11:03 +0200

Yesterday's debate between Obama and McCain saw the birth of a new American hero. Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Toronto City, received praise from both candidates in the televised event. The local media spent the evening with "Joe the Plumber", who shared his views on what was said.

Joe Wurzelbacher was a nobody until Sunday, when he came across Barack Obama, who was passing through his Ohio town (see the video of their encounter here). His sensible questions to the democratic candidate, and his critical views of the responses which followed, have made him the embodiment of the middle class American, the guy who works hard for his money and doesn't like handing over a penny of it to the state.

A journalist from the local daily Toledo Blade spent the evening at Joe's home last night. She interviewed him just after the debate.

"Phoque" or "fuck" - when it comes to culture, Canadians don’t speak the same language

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:44:01 +0200

Language gaps and cultural misunderstandings are an integral part of daily life for Canadians dealing with their fellow countrymen from the other side of the French - British divide. This rather amusing sketch about the issue is also a serious warning about the future of Canadian culture, which according to the clip, faces near-extinction.

Under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Canadian government has cut 45 million euros worth of funding for cultural programmes over the past six months. Around fifteen programmes, considered out-dated or misused, have been axed. The latest blow came on 8 August when it was announced that two major funds would be withdrawn, leaving the cultural scene in Canada looking fragile.

However, investing in culture is a lucrative business. At least that's the message a group of Canadian celebrities are trying to get across. Since singer Michel Rivard, comedian Benoit Brière and humorist Stéphane Rousseau posted this video on YouTube 19 September, its been watched almost a million times.

The film tackles the great linguistic divide in Canada, something that both sides, despite frustrations, find rather funny. The video is a massive online hit, and arrives in time for the 14 October national party elections. Our Canadian Observers react to the sketch.

Posted on YouTube on an account called "Culture en péril" (culture in peril), and translated by "Tupperfan".

The pig that could cost Obama an arm and a leg

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:21:21 +0200

To be seen as implying that Sarah Palin was "a pig with lipstick on" certainly got Barack Obama a great deal of attention, but the standing ovation that he received at the time has now been replaced by a barrage of insults for being sexist.

The latest and possibly most shocking insult to fly across the donkey - elephant divide was made by Obama in Virginia on Tuesday. "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years," he said. Observers immediately drew a link with the "hockey mom" comment made by McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin, who said that the difference between a child-devoted mother and a pit-bull was lipstick. Obama was immediately criticised for the comment, which the Republicans say was sexist. But our Observer, blogger John Aravosis, reminds us that John McCain made the same comment about Hillary Clinton's health plans last year. And as the cat fight heats up, the two candidates are running at neck and neck in the polls.

UPDATE (11 September 2008 - 10am): McCain's campaign team responded to the speech by using footage of a CBS journalist complaining about sexism in the election. What they failed to mention was that anchor Katie Couric's remarks were not referencing Sarah Palin... but Hillary Clinton, back in early June. After complaints from CBS about the use of Couric's comment the clip was banned from YouTube on Wednesday. However, it's still available on McCain's website.