Political Communication in American Elections

The U.S. Senate race between Michelle Nunn and Senator David Purdue really motivated me to change my major from Economics to Political Science.  I was unaware that there was really a clear cut term to describe what we see and hear in the media from any candidate running for any office.  Candidates must communicate with the public through the media to get their names and message out there to gain momentum in the polls.  The media reports and disseminates the information to the people and its up to us how we interpret the information given.  This process is called political communication.  To me, political communication is defined as the interaction and communication between candidates, the press and public, local government and the citizens within the political system. 

Now, going back to the U.S. Senate race in 2014, what inspired me to want to learn more about politics is the constant mud slinging between David Purdue and Michelle Nunn.  I felt as though they completely lost focus on what matters because of the dirty politics that continue to taint the campaign of both candidates.  When you run public office, you have to win the hearts and minds of the people.  The people want to have the utmost complete confidence and believe in the candidate they choose to represent them.  When you are constantly berating someone and attacking them, it takes away from the genuineness of the campaign you are trying to run.  Unfortunately, dirty politics is part of what makes political communication so important.

In the 2016 GOP race for the presidential nomination, we see Donald Trump uses the very same tactics against Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz because now he sees him as threat.  The gloves came off in a heated exchange between the two frontrunner candidates during another Republican debate last Thursday.  Trump questions whether Senator Cruz can legally run for president due to the fact he was born outside the United States.  Senator Cruz also went on the attack to say that Trump embodied New York values that were not traditional.  Donald Trump won the exchange by briefly talking about the events that unfolded September 11, 2001.  He then told Senator Cruz that his comments were very disrespectful.

In response to Senator Cruz's comments, the New York Daily News cover page shows a picture of the Statue of Liberty giving Senator Cruz the middle finger and in big words it reads, "DROP DEAD TED."  To make matter worse for Senator Cruz, Donald Trump had an unlikely ally in the Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton.  She agreed with Trump that Senator Cruz's comments were insensitive and wrong.