To: The Smith Campaign

From: Connie Fu Campaign Consultant

Date: November 17, 2016
Re: Analysis of the 2012 Presidential Election
In 2012, Obama won the Presidential Election through a series of successful campaign
advertisements, and Candidate Smith should consider his tactics in order to achieve victory in the
2016 Presidential Election. His campaign advertisements did not rely on current technology, but
was based on the psychology and social behaviors of people during the year of 2012. However,
technological advancements certainly increased the effects of Obamas political advertisements;
the ever-increasing number of people who use social media also contributed to the election. He
took advantage of the social media tools, networks, and accessible communication techniques to
create ads that would have an effect on every user in the country. Some people may say that
Obama was wasting his money by spending so much on useless digital ads, but statistics prove
otherwise. He gained double the amount of likes on a popular social media, Facebook, and nearly
twenty times as many re-tweets as Romney did which increased his number of supporters.
Obamas supporters on social media are directly relevant to voters who ended up voting for him
in the election, thus, media campaigning proves to be very effective. Further research of Obama
and Romneys political advertisements and statistics of voting results by state prove media
campaigning to be the final winning move of the 2012 election.
Obamas Campaign Advertisements
The campaign advertisement, The Choice, includes Obama himself as the narrator, and it
shows that he is speaking directly to us throughout the video. As Obama is talking, the video
focuses primarily on him, and the background is blurred out. He is talking about his plan, and the
images are parallel to what he is talking about. Additionally, the only texts that appear show up
near in middle of the video when Obama states his plan to strengthen the middle class so that
America can afford to invest in manufacturing and home-grown energy. Towards the end of the
video, the word forward is shown in large bold letters. I hear Obamas voice clearly
throughout the video, and I found it to be very firm and reassuring. In my opinion, a narrators
voice is very important, and Obama does an excellent job by clearly demonstrating his public
speaking skills. Besides Obamas voice, I hear subtle piano music and positive sounds. By
positive sounds, I mean sounds you would generally associate with happiness and success. The
commercial producers most likely want me to pay attention to Obamas plan, as that is the main
idea of the entire video; images and texts throughout the video emphasize Obamas plan to build
a lasting economy. The video is titled The Choice, to tell us it is our choice to make, and move
forward with Obamas plan. This ad is very compelling to me because Obama provides a very
compelling argument and proposal by thoroughly explaining the situation. He clearly explains
what America can achieve by strengthening the middle class, and reveals why Romneys plan
would not work. Furthermore, the ad seems very well planned in terms of clarity, images, and
soundtrack. In my opinion, the best part of this campaign ad would be the fact that Obama is
talking directly to us, viewers. This gives viewers the feeling that they are being referred to

individually which makes them feel important. The second political commercial I viewed by
Obamas campaign is called Go, which displays a series of powerful images and clips put
together to show what Obama has done in his four years of presidency. These images and short
clips are put together together as a consecutive story creating a very emotional piece; it coveys
Americas financial collapse in 2008 with images representing chaos and clips from news medias
describing the hectic situation; the point of this is to brief viewers on how he has kept his
promise, and how he has made America better. Then, it shows Obama taking the oath of
presidency, and everything he has accomplished after that day. I hear many different sounds in
the video that create a powerful effect as a whole. There is a clear narrators voice, news
anchors voices, Obamas voice, and dramatic music. Producers of this commercial most likely
want me to feel the truth in Obamas words, and how he will not quit on America. I say this
because the entire video shows evidence upon how much America has changed since he was
sworn in presidency. They want me to stand by Obama, a person who has and will not give up on
America and its citizens. Personally, I really enjoyed this ad because everything about it was just
so powerful. The powerful images, power vocabulary, and Obamas promise to America was
extremely compelling.
Romneys Campaign Advertisements
The two political advertisements I viewed by Mitt Romneys campaign were comparably worse
than the ones by Obamas campaign in terms of visuals, sounds, and overall level of persuasion.
In Romneys political advertisement, Nothings Free, I see large texts stating that Obama has
been taking away $716 billion dollars from medicare to fund Obamacare; the main point of this
ad is to tell people that supposed free health care comes at a high price, and Romney can change
that through the Romney-Ryan Plan which protects medicare. Apart from large texts, I see an
image of a wheelchair, Obama, an overview of a town, and Mitt Romney himself towards the
end. Throughout the video, I hear a narrator reading all of the texts, and grand music towards the
end when Romney appears. By grand, I mean the typical soundtrack people would associate
with success or accomplishment. I think the commercial producers want me to think about the
reality of Obamacare, and how it is not as free as we all assumed. They want me to doubt
Obamas new healthcare, and think about which healthcare plan I want existent in the future. I
think this ad is not very effective, as it is not that clear in terms of ideas. The argument is weak
because it does not tell viewers why Medicare would be a better choice, and does not persuade
me to support the Romney-Ryan Plan. The second political commercial I viewed by Mitt
Romneys campaign is called Doing Fine,? which conveys Americas problems concerning
jobs and the economy through large texts. There are large texts showing statistics of 23.2 million
Americans in need of work as of June 8, 2012, as well as the fact that there has been 40 straight
months of over 8% unemployment. Following a video clip of Obama saying that the private
sector is doing fine, large bold words stating, How can president Obama fix our economy if he
doesnt know its broken? I hear dramatic music that quickly elevates throughout the video, and
Obamas voice in a short video clip. I believe that the commercial producers want me to feel that
Obama is not a good candidate, as he has not been improving our economy. They want me to
ponder upon what positives have Obama done to Americas economy; the short video capturing
Obamas words makes me doubt how reliable Obamas words are since statistics show
otherwise. This ad seems somewhat effective to me because people tend to believe statistics, and
evidence of ones words captured on video for all people to see. Obama did respond the private

sector is doing fine, and this shows people that his words may be unreliable. It is obvious that
Romneys campaign did not splurge as much as Obamas campaign did regarding these political
advertisements; facts show he spent a mere $4.7 million dollars compared to Obamas extreme
funding of $47 million dollars. From 2008 to 2012, there is a 32% increase in adults who utilize
social media, and Pew Research shows that 66% of internet users take action in terms of politics
by taking part in political votes, surveys, and other politically engaging activities.
Swing States: Colorado and Florida
The nine swing states were one of the biggest deciding factors in the final race between Obama
and Romney. I have analyzed the two swing states of Colorado and Florida to give further
evidence upon how Obama won the election. According to the Washington Post, Colorado has
been carried mostly by Democratic leaders while Florida seems to waver in between Democratic
and Republican leaders. Out of the nine swing states, Romney had won only two of them; the
one swing state that prominently supported Romney was Florida, as he gained a large number of
29 electoral votes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Colorado and Floridas statistics
concerning median household income, percentage below poverty level, and percentage of high
school and college graduate are all very similar. The major differences are between their
statewide percentages of ethnic groups and the voting population by generation. Colorados
population consists of 87.5% White people, 4.5% African Americans, 1.6% American Indian and
Alaska Natives, 3.2% Asians, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, and 21.3%
Hispanics. Meanwhile Floridas population contains 77.7% of White people, 16.8% African
Americans, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Natives, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific
Islander, and 24.5% Hispanics. In Comparison, there is 9.8% more White people in Colorado
than Florida; the amount of African Americans are greater in Florida by 12.3%. As for the
average voting population by generation, statistics prove that Florida has a much older
population than Colorado. Colorado has a much younger population that votes which may
contribute to why the state supported Obama. Obama was very aware that young voters could
impact the voting system by a lot depending, and encouraged the vast majority of them to vote.
Floridas average age above 65 years old was a very high percent of 52.8% which accounts for
more than half of the states total population. This proves that the majority of the older
population supported Romney. Overall, my research proves that Obama won the election through
support from young voters, African Americans, and Hispanics. Additional resources from CNN
News prove that he gained support from a vast population of women voters by standing against
rape and standing for equality.

Begin with a brief introductory paragraph that contextualizes the memo for your readers and
describes the main point or course of action that readers should take after reading the memo. The
introduction should not have a heading.
Media Takes Over the Election

The entire election of 2012 was mainly based on media, and how Obama utilized it to his
advantage which led him to another win. PBSs video, How Campaigns Amass Your Personal
Information to Deliver Tailored Political Ads, talks about the behind the scenes work of political
advertisements and surveys. Each advertisement and survey targeted specific individuals who
were browsing the web; a company named Aristotle have access to political intelligence, data,
and personal information to create ads and surveys. This company provided information to both
Obama and Romneys campaigns, and new technology gave both campaigns the ability to use
that data to achieve the precision theyve always wanted. This precision means that they could
use internet users personal information to give them political advertisements that apply strictly
to them. Some information registered voter files provide are: name, address, gender, and race;
there could be up to around five-hundred data points for each individual. Obama and Romneys
media campaigns used these tactics to make sure they are able to target all people. Mass media
was a put in a new light, and it affected the race in ways of targeting specific people with
different political advertisements. Obama had a much stronger media campaign compared to
Romney; he primarily focused his attention on media campaigns to provide compelling
advertisements all over the United States.
American FactFinder - Community Facts." ONLINE. U.S. Census Bureau. Available:
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml [15 Nov. 2016].
BarackObamadotcom. "Go." YouTube. 2012. Accessed November 27, 2016. http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0OVngTHkNg.
CNN. Accessed November 25, 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/06/politics/election-2012/.
"How Campaigns Amass Your Personal Information to Deliver Tailored Political Ads." PBS.
Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics-july-dec12frontline_10-29/.
Mittromney. "Mittromney's Channel." YouTube. Accessed November 27, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyKtWUx5C1Nc6J9yMJlIlwg.
"The 9 Swing States of 2012." Washington Post. Accessed November 27, 2016.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-9-swing-states-of-2012/2012/04/16/
gIQABuXaLT_blog.html.