The chess game of political PR

As a PR student, I definitely notice the role PR has in political elections. I think of more than the politics when candidates clash through political messages. I think many people have become used to the constant bombardment of messages that won’t stop until Election Day on November 6.  I don’t think people realize how much careful planning—to the smallest detail— goes into these messages though. Focusing specifically on the presidential election, there are a few things that really stick out to me regarding the PR aspect of the election. 

1) The number of people on the campaign staff

From the chief strategist all the way down to interns, the presidential campaigns have hundreds of employees with positions like manager, advisor, strategist, chief of advertising, and communications director among many others. I am always surprised to see how many people are buzzing behind the scenes to make sure the campaign says all the right things to maintain positive PR.

2) Money spent

According to Fox News, the amount of many now spent for campaigning between candidates for the election has surpassed two billion dollars. That is an insane amount of money! This sum speaks for itself. A willingness to spend that much money shows the importance of PR.

3) Gaffes

The most interesting part of political campaigns is the inevitable gaffes that occur during the course of a campaign. Candidates are human and they are bound to occasionally have a slip up while speaking. It’s ridiculous how the opposing campaign is waiting in ambush for the slightest slip of the tongue so that they can give the opponent negative PR. With so much money and planning going into the campaigns, it’s crazy that one small slip up can derail a campaign. The candidates spend hundreds of hours talking in front of people and they try to avoid such slip ups. Talk about pressure! When the criticism gaffes cause is responded to in order to save face for the campaign we see the same predictable cycle that occurs before every election. 

Here the top 5 gaffes from this election can be seen:  http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13038.aspx

I definitely have a distinct feeling when it comes to the two PR campaigns. I find it disappointing that we now live in an age when negative PR for our opponent is more important than positive PR for our candidate. “Mudslinging” is frequent in the strategic messages of the current presidential candidates. It is exhausting to watch the PR strategies of the candidates unfold and get tangled up. Politics are often a bit of a mess and that is true for political PR as well. The two candidates just continue to criticize and respond to each other in a predictable way. It is very repetitive and makes me anxious for Election Day to arrive so I now longer have to listen to campaign messages.    

Jeffrey Pearson
University of Minnesota
Jour 3279
Blog Assignment