“I’m very highly educated. I know words, I have the best words…”(Trump). Phrases like these, are exactly the ones causing controversy in social media and national television over the 2016 presidential candidates nominees. For the 2016’s presidential candidate election, there’s Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democrats; and Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Donald Trump on the Republican side. Inappropriate comments during debates, major differences in political experience among the candidates, feminism, and gender differences are some of the issues discussed by the general public in social media and late night shows on television.
Although politics exists to improve the government, the 2016 political campaigns have shifted their focus from important issues in order to gain attention from uneducated voters. The purpose of democracy is to help citizens and taxpayers, by letting them decide who and how their money through the government. The government was created to maintain peace and order among citizens. By giving people the ability to choose their leaders is what differentiates a democracy from other kinds of government.
According to congressman Clyburn, “The Constitution establishes a federal democratic republic form of government… It is a democracy because people govern themselves. It is representative because people choose elected officials by free and secret ballot. It is a republic because the government derives its power from the people. ” (“Our American Government. “). In order to avoid dissatisfaction from the people, the United States government is set up to give power to the people.
Political parties unify groups of citizens to develop policies that are favorable to that specific group, they support those policy makers and persuade other voters to vote for them; in order to achieve control of the government from the citizens perspective (“The Functions of Political Parties. “). Political parties are part of our government system in order to give power to the people who they will potentially lead, which is why voters must be well informed in order to make a choice that is truly convenient for them as individuals and their country in general.
In an ideal government, political parties aid in achieving democracy in the united states by giving them the power of choosing their leaders. Although political parties are meant to help the government, many politicians are being looked at as celebrities. By being looked at like celebrities, politicians begin to feel like celebrities. Since voters think of them as famous, politicians need to change the way they persuade voters. One example is Ronald Raegan who thinks politics “is just like show business. (Postman).
Coming from the former president of the United States, it has become a fact that politicians are aware of their fame and impact they cause on people. Political figures have become so assimilated into culture as celebrities that they “may show up anywhere, at any time, doing anything, without being thought odd, presumptuous, or in any way out of place” in television (Postman). Social media often aids in portraying these politicians as celebrities, focusing on what people want to hear about them.
Even though the real purpose of politics is to give people the power to choose their government leaders, social media and how these politicians are portrayed have distorted the real purpose of politics. The 2016 Republican campaign focuses on unimportant issues when arguing why they should be elected to attract attention. It is not unusual to hear inappropriate comments when watching the debates between the 2016 Republican candidates. In a previous GOP Debate, Trump commented “look at those hands, are they small hands? … –If they’re small, something else must be small,” directed to senator Cruz (Krieg).
Trump’s lack of political experience may explain his vulgar comments that have nothing to do with politics, since he still needs a way of attracting the public’s attention during the debates. During and Oklahoma City rally senator Rubio claims to have a “con-artist as the front runner in the Republican Party,” (Benak). Senator Cruz attacks Trump as a way to defend himself. None of these comments are connected to improving the conditions of this country, making it all irrelevant talk to draw attention from the general public.
The 2016 Democrat campaign focuses on unimportant issues when arguing why they should be elected to attract attention. Just like among the Republican debates, unnecessary comments are exchanged between debates from the Democrats side. In a previous debate, Sanders kept attacking Clinton for failing to release transcripts of her speeches, after she left the State Department (Collinson). Sander’s attack is unnecessary since it has nothing to do with improving the government nor how his ideas are better than his opponents.
At a Clinton rally in New Hampshire, former secretary of state Albright, made her support for very obvious by declaring “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other! ” When referring to those women who do not support Clinton (Walker). Since Albright is a former politician, she has direct connections with Clinton. Clinton’s emphasis on being a woman and how all women should vote for her is inappropriate, since gender does not matter when picking a candidate just idea pertaining to the government.
Due to the fact that none of these comments relate to how their policies will benefit the country, they do not matter, making them attention getters. Unnecessary arguments attract uneducated voters attention. The reason most current politicians throw unnecessary comments in their debates are to maintain those who don’t have an interest in politics interested. A recent survey from the Washington Post revealed that “40% of Republican voters without college degrees support Trump compared with only 19% of college graduates. (Somin). Having a college degree often gives an individual the opportunity of expanding their knowledge in politics and current issues, giving them the chance to establish an educated opinion. Trump’s irrelevant comments are attracting non educated voters. Since Trump is an established celebrity, he has “a built-in advantage with voters who don’t know much about politics, and therefore know little about more conventional politicians. ” (Somin).
Trump’s example of being a major celebrity prior to getting involved, proves that the general public, whom are mostly uneducated people, tends to support those candidates who they know about for non political related reasons instead of informing themselves about other candidates. The majority of voters who don’t have a college degree tend to support those candidates that attract attention on media with issues not related to the government. In fact, most political party candidates are tweaking their persuasion methods to target those who are not very knowledgeable when it comes to politics.
Today, most candidates see advertisements and social media as a requirement instead of an option in order to win. Political candidates “spend billions on campaign advertisements because Americans are remarkably uninformed about the most basic facts of public policy,” (Gaughan). Due to the lack of will to be informed, political candidates are forced to use advertisements to make those who are not interested in politics vote for them. “We are inclined to vote for those whose personality, family life, and style, as imaged on the screen” (Postman).
Individuals pay more attention to the candidates personal lives and character rather than their political ideas, which forces them to change their persuasion methods. Since they are looked at as celebrities, political candidates are forced to use advertisements and social media to gain voters instead of their political ideas, which promotes the unnecessary comments and materialistic views from uneducated voters. Issues pertaining to society and government’s interactions are the only problems that should be discussed in political campaigns.
While politicians are busy trying to gain supporters with irrelevant comments, real problems are left unattended. “There are more black men that are in prison today than were enslaved in 1850 and more total people in prison than there were in Stalin’s gulags at their largest. – on the drug war” (Beauchamp). The comparison to past issues that drawed attention make the drug war more relevant since many are being affected and politicians are not doing anything to change it. Clinton was the only candidate that promises to do something about sexual assault, a popular issue in college campuses (Bialik).
The fact that sexual assault as a widespread problem and only one candidate mentioned it in their platform, demonstrates how politicians prefer to focus on irrelevant issues to attract uneducated voters attention, rather than focus on the real purpose of politics. While most candidates focus on drawing attention instead of solving real problems, the real purpose of politics is distorted, putting problems on hold and citizens at risk. The 2016 presidential candidates draw attention from uneducated voters by substituting real issues with inappropriate comments.
Government’s true purpose is to make it a better place for its people and to give them power by electing their leaders. The 2016 Democrat and Republican candidates are using unnecessary comments to attract attention from uneducated voters. Most uneducated voters are attracted to issues not related to politics making candidates focus on anything but political ideas, distorting the real purpose of government. A several number of issues go unattended while political candidates focus on media to gain support rather than finding solutions to real issues.
