Kasich hosts Kennesaw State University town hall

By JONATHAN ORRILLO, THOMAS HARTWELL, JUSTIN NADYBAL, ADAM MAELAND

KENNESAW, Ga. – Republican presidential candidate John Kasich visited Kennesaw State, Tuesday, drawing more than 400 onlookers.

Kasich gave a short speech on his campaign platform before opening the floor to questions from the audience. Comments ranged from policy issues to questions of Kasich’s lack of aggression on the campaign trail.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich answers an audience member's question at Tuesday's KSU town hall meeting.

Photo by Thomas Hartwell

“I want to know how you’re going to stick it to Trump [and the others],” said one audience member.

Since stepping on KSU’s campus, Kasich made his message to audience members clear: Everyone has a purpose in life, and it is their job to find and fulfill it. When Kasich entered the Carmichael Student Center, he began by telling students that change starts with them.

Presidential hopeful John Kasich speaks to audience members of all ages at Tuesday's KSU town hall. Photo by Thomas Hartwell

“You are unique, and you are special and you have a purpose,” he said.

Kasich also spoke bluntly about issues like the economy, workforce and student debt, tailoring issues to the millennial-dominated crowd.

“We made a promise to these millennials that, if you go to college, you’ll get a good job, and somehow that promise has been broken,” he said.

While it might be expected that students would be upset by this and statements like it, many responded positively.

“He gave us a dose of reality rather than you know trying to build or hope up,” said University of Georgia student Brett Smith. “It is easy to offer free college, but I think he realizes that’s not feasible.”

The town hall left some students at KSU feeling that the presidential candidate was approachable and willing to talk with them one-on-one, taking questions and pictures with them after the meeting.

 “[It’s great] seeing someone in person and exactly hearing what they have to say, not just seeing them on TV,” said KSU student Alyx Fotiades. “I am a stronger supporter.”

Kasich has been gaining momentum in the republican race because of his experience and demeanor. Supporters view Kasich as a man that is an honest candidate and not an entertainer.

“He sees the glass as half full,” said Kasich supporter Tom Prior. “Almost all the other candidates see the glass as half empty.”

Kasich continued his campaign trail legacy, telling audience members he would continue to run a “friendly” campaign for votes, not entertainment.

John Kasich listens to student questions and comments at Tuesday's KSU town hall. Photo by Thomas Hartwell

“I am not going to go out there and do something to just grab attention,” he said. “Either you walk into a room and frighten people and make promises you can’t deliver on, or you walk into a room and say it’s going to be fine, we have path to fix this. Now that might not be as sexy, but that’s life.

Even with his positive demeanor, Kasich has stirred up controversy on the campaign trail. One day prior to the KSU town hall, Kasich stated that in 1978 he won the statehouse because women “left their kitchens to go vote.” Regardless of his statement, a significant amount of women attended and showed their support at the town hall.

“I think it was 75 or 80 percent of the women at that time did not work,” said Kasich supporter Angie Coleman. “The meeting that he was having they were called coffee house meetings. Instead of town halls they were small meetings where they were literally meeting in kitchens. It was not sexist, and anyone who thinks that about Kasich is silly.”

Kasich plans to continue his town hall meeting visits to Tennessee, Vermont, Massachusetts and Michigan in the coming weeks

Rick Santorum's use of ads and Facebook

Rick Santorum has attempted four very distinct ad campaigns.

My count has Santorum with five ads; two are attack ads against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one is aimed at Senator Rand Paul and former Governor Mike Huckabee simultaneously and one is addressed at Senator Ted Cruz.

None of the ads are targeted against Republican front-runner mainstay Donald Trump. In fact, in one debate Santorum insisted that personal attacks amongst Republicans only helped Hillary Clinton.

In his latest ad, released on January 20^th Santorum implored that voters join him so that together they may, “… take back America from the Left, the special interests and the DC Establishment!”

Santorum uses his Facebook mostly to chronicle his journey through Iowa and New Hampshire. Occasionally a letter to the editor from the Union Leader or an interview on Fox News Radio is shared along with the occasional video from C-SPAN, but mostly the Senator seems to want folks to know that he’s working hard in the early states to earn votes. The other important component of Santorum’s Facebook is the repetitive posting of his victory over partial birth abortions. As a part of that Santorum includes pictures of him and his family holding up pieces of paper, all with different statements written on them, but all with the hashtag #WhyWeMarch.

The two rhetorical appeals Santorum uses most often are accumulation and antithesis. Santorum said in one debate, “We’re a country of laws, Bill. A country of laws, not of men […] But the reason America’s a great country, the reason is because our compassion’s in our laws.”

Accumulation has not worked for Santorum to persuade or mobilize voters as evidenced by his place in undercard debates and his sustained low poll numbers (His highest polling in the 2016 cycle was 11%).

A Look at Governor Jim Gilmore's Campaign Communication Strategies

Gilmore was governor of Virginia from 1998-2002
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Vadon

The Wikipedia page, “Jim Gilmore presidential campaign, 2016” concludes with the sentence, “On October 30, 2015, Jim Gilmore was verified on Twitter.”

This seemingly mundane information suggests the importance of social media in campaigns for president. A verified Twitter page lends assurance to the media when covering a candidate, such as Gilmore.

The communication apparatus of Gilmore’s campaign is questionable at best. He has seven videos on C-SPAN for the entire year of 2015, has only been in one debate, and is sometimes left out of polls altogether.

Gilmore used a video to announce his campaign. The video shows him sitting in front of a bookcase (and a picture of George Washington) in a blue button down shirt. The Gilmore campaign did not hold an event (press conference or rally) for the governor’s announcement.

The campaign seems to only have two paid consultant, Boyd Marcus and Dan Kreske. While Marcus has a history with Gilmore, there is nothing to suggest he is a communication specialist.

Kreske, similarly, has a history with Gilmore, but no notable history in communication.

In a campaign cycle that’s embracing Snapchat, Gilmore has kept his social media strategy simple. He has Facebook and Twitter.

The Gilmore website includes amongst its headers a ‘VA Petition’ to get the governor on the ballot in Virginia, the state Gilmore is a former governor of. The ‘News’ feature of the Gilmore website may be the most effective tool the Gilmore campaign uses, given that anyone reads it.

The news section of his website and recent posts on Facebook show Gilmore campaigning in Florida, but the ‘Photo Galleries’ on the website only have links for ‘New Hampshire’, ‘South Carolina’ and ‘Virginia’.

The photo gallery for New Hampshire shows that Gilmore, like other governors, is focusing on the Granite State over others.

What is political communication? "Let's Talk Trump."

The most intriguing definition of political communication that I happened across in several readings included several comments about a collaboration between political science and communication/media studies professionals. The collaboration, said the authors, is a result of these professionals working together on topics of mutual interest instead of “ignoring their colleagues” and conducting their own studies. In regards to the transmission of messages or opinions in “policom,” political communication can be described as how a candidate communicates, verbally or otherwise, through many channels and media outlets to get a message to the public and vice versa. Channels and media outlets for candidates might include their campaign website, social media pages or campaign ads. The public and press may use those same channels to interact with or report on candidates as well as take to their own social media accounts and other public channels to express opinions and communicate with people of similar, and many times varying, political opinion. The press, like the public, may interact with candidates or campaign officials via social media, but the press has a leg up on the public with its ability, in many cases, to reach the candidate personally as well as has a responsibility to report factual and accurate information to the public.

A rather colorful example of the practice of policom concepts is Donald Trump’s use of Twitter this campaign season. Trump has, undoubtedly, been the most outspoken illustrator of many candidate goals, namely, attempting to make himself more desirable to potential voters by making other candidates less seem desirable. Trump, while more animated than other candidates, exhibits policom marketing techniques that most candidates, especially in national elections, strive for. Trump has derived much of his success in national polls this season by catering to the other two players’ roles – public and press. When he makes “shocker statements,” like his idea to deport 11 million people and build a border wall, the press picks it up, gives Trump free publicity and steals spotlight potential from others. As far as catering to the public, Trump has capitalized on the nation’s yearning for firm action by making general, attractive statements that strike up conversation among voters. It makes sense as a marketing and campaigning tactic – I mean, who wouldn’t want to “make America great again”?