Category: Candidate Webpages (SWA#4)

Candidates for the 2020 Democratic Nomination for President

Cory Booker is from New Jersey and has always had a passion for politics as he was previously Newark’s Mayor for quite some time and then moved on to be New Jersey’s Senator. Andrew Yang is from Manhattan, New York and has been passionate about entrepreneurship and created his own company but recently has stepped up to the plate and is seeking to become America’s next president. It seems unusual as he has not had political experience like Booker but has worked closely with the White House when Obama was president. Looking closely as both websites, they do have some background information on where they come from. Booker definitely emphasizes his background more than Yang. Booker tells his story of being a lawyer for his people who are being taking advantage by slumlords. That clearly shows the injustice he sees in the community and how he used his college degree and overall education to help others. He uses his community, his passion and the injustice in the world to be able to motivate him to be even more of a role model for all Americans.

One thing that he doesn’t have on his website are his policies and what he strives to work for as a president. Booker creates an environment where his community can come to his aid and he will work with his resources to find a solution.  Based on Fenno, he uses a person to person approach with his public. He wants people to know where he came from and who got him to where he is now. Booker wants to represent the unrepresented. I wouldn’t say he is issue-oriented due to his lack of policy representation on his website. He wants people to know he is willing to hear their stories and what their solutions could be. His slogan, “We Rise”, shows his commitment to engage with his community and Americans together in order to create a better America.

Yang, on the other hand, has included all of his policies. His main policy is UBI, Universal Basic Income, which advocates for all Americans 18 and older to receive about $12,000 a year as a replacement for welfare, food stamps, and homelessness. He also talks about his background like Booker but doesn’t go in depth on how it helped him get to where he is now. He is more involved in making Americans know that he is an entrepreneur and willing to find solutions on creating more jobs now that technology is getting more advanced. Based on Fenno, he is more issue-oriented, he works better with technology and showing his policies than engaging with people on a personal level. This could be because he doesn’t have that much experience with politics like Booker, which could not give him much credibility. Through his policies, he is able to communicate what he wants to do with the presidency and gain voters that way. He shows how passionate he is in creating more jobs for Americans. Unlike Booker, Yang has more experience in the business world, so he definitely knows about the burden of being responsible for people’s livelihood. His slogan, “Humanity First”, shows the difference in agenda between both candidates, Yang is more concerned with improving lives of humanity in the way he sees fit while Booker wants to improve the lives of American people with them coming along. There is definitely a different perspective of campaigning by the two candidates showing each distinct traits, accomplishments, and motivations.

SWA #4: Presidential Primaries & Elections

PETE BUTTIGIEG

Pete Buttigieg’s personal characteristics and priorities are generally encompassed within his slogan: It is time for a new generation of American leadership. Buttigieg, praised as a progressive millennial, war veteran, and devoted husband is about to finish his eight term as the mayor for South Bend, Indiana. In 2017, he was elected as the chair of the “Automation and the Impacts on America’s Cities” task force at the United States Conference of Mayors. Barack Obama also named Buttigieg one of the four progressive Democrats that represented the future of the party. Throughout his various efforts, his priorities seem to lie with global economic growth and advancement of industries. Since his mayoral term started, South Bend’s role was “reimagined” with large increases in job growth and improved technology applications. Based on his website, Buttigieg’s self-presentation is unambiguous. I believe that he represents both home-styles, but one more than the other. His social interactions and persona are absolutely person-to-person. When people mention Pete, they think of someone similar to them who is stepping up to make a difference. People see him for exactly what he is: war veteran and husband. Seems to me that he has made a strong connection with his voter base. I consulted a few stories covering Buttigieg and they all displayed the same theme evident in Pete’s personality and goals. Although an underdog, Pete has coalesced substantial support from the Democratic party. So much in fact, that he is now tied with Senator Elizabeth Warren at third in the 2020 caucus race. The New York Times specifically focused on Buttigieg’s desire to strengthen the party by winning back Trump supporters: the working white class. Pete stressed that this is the best and most logical way to defeat Trump, not by trying to broadcast exposure.

 

JAY INSLEE

Jay Inslee is currently the Governor of Washington, serving out his second term since 2012. Before that, he was a member of congress since 1998. Contrary to Pete Buttigieg, Inslee’s website slogan better represents his goals and aspirations for the future more so than what he stands for. Clearly, the only issue that has Inslee’s undivided attention is climate change. I don’t blame him, it’s a huge issue that is already impacting my generation and probably generations after me. Inslee has established himself as an issue-oriented contender for the presidential race, which is evident all throughout his webpage. This is evident in one of his website headings: “From fighting climate change to winning better pay and benefits for working families, Governor Inslee has worked his entire life for all of us”. As the Governor of Washington, he has worked hard to lead his state to having the best economy in the country as well as the most environmentally friendly. The Atlantic also states that “On his watch, the state has boosted health care, increased access to early-childhood education and college, raised the minimum wage, expanded paid family leave, invested in infrastructure, and established in-state net neutrality, all while leading the country in job growth, overall personal-income growth, and GDP.” Inslee is trusted and known for getting the job done making daily progress. Unlike Buttigieg, Inslee’s webpage (thus campaign) has a direct mission and list of goals set for defeating climate change. His campaign also proudly announces that they have signed the No Fossil Fuels Money Pledge.

Given his strong advocacy for a greener environment, there is not much else the media is willing and able to focus on. Inslee believes that a strong green message will bring everyone together and win his candidacy. Most of the stories discuss if his binary platform will win enough support to win.

 

 

REFERENCES

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/us/politics/buttigieg-2020-president.html

 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/buttigieg-mayor-who-would-be-president-sees-surge

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/the-nation-needs-inslees-green-message/?fbclid=IwAR3Sc9D5xH-xFoMxxoJ9PCzl9WRju3Mul0oMgEWNR3y1R8kezhR-OzXguq0

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/washington-governor-jay-inslee-running-president/579217/

The two candidates that I have decided to compare are Senator Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro. They both come from different backgrounds and because of that they focus their campaign on very different issues. Elizabeth Warren advocates for the middle class and demands that people should start paying more attention to issues they face. She states that it is creating a gap between the rich and the poor that is getting harder to fix because of various reasons. She states that if elected should would do everything possible to strength labor unions in order to provide better working spaces for these workers. She also states that one of her priorities is to tax the rich a proper amount based on their wages. On the other hand, Julian Castro focuses his campaign on immigration. He states that his family had to go through this transition of moving to a new country; therefore, he understands the struggles that immigrants face. Similarly, because he is Latino, he wants to help minorities with the more prominent struggles being faced today.
Based on their background, both candidates demonstrate to be family oriented. Both of their webpages contained pictures of their families. Therefore, they are centralizing their campaign around them. Although, both are trying to appeal to very different groups of people, they both have strong messages about what they are trying to create. Something that is different from both candidates that really stuck out was the fact that Julian Castro runs his own page; whereas, Elizabeth warren does not. Although this is apparent when looking at their webpages, it seems that they have similar ways of governing. They seem to be focusing more on broader issues that they care about and not what every individual wants.
Looking at media circling both candidates there seems to be more controversy with Elizabeth Warren. Many of the media sources talk about the scandal with the DNA Testing that she performed in order to determine whether or not she has Native American blood (Boston News). On the other hand, there wasn’t a major issue that was presented against Julian Castro. Most news coverage was about his plans to help young Latinos and his plans to help the Latino community. In the webpages, there wasn’t a lot of discussion about what Elizabeth Warren is planning on doing with her campaign. The news constantly compares her candidacy with that of Hillary Clinton. This could be bad because the public saw the allegations that were made against Hillary Clinton and the emails, which really impacted her negatively. Similarly, they believe that the same thing will end up happening with Elizabeth Warren. Julian Castro, on the other hand, shows a lot of coverage dealing with the Hispanic community and with other people. In a lot of news outlets Julian Castro comments on creating opportunity for all people and portrays him in a way that makes him seem more friendly towards the public. These are two very different candidates, and both have really good ideas, but in the end the public is the one that get to decide who they name their next president.

Devon Hopkins

Corral

Intro to Politics

3/29/19

Kamala Harris vs Elizabeth Warren

Both Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren seem to be worthy candidates for the Presidential election of 2020. They both seem to have the best interest of the American people at heart and are willing to fight to make sure that change is made that benefits us all. Kamala Harris focuses on issues surrounding legislation to provide sweeping tax cuts for the middle class, addressing the high cost of rent, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, making higher education tuition-free for the vast majority of Americans, reforming the cash bail system, protecting the legal rights of refugees and immigrants, and expanding access to affordable, quality health care with Medicare for all. Her slogan is “Kamala Harris, for the people” and this represents who she is and her main focus because it shows her goals are in favor of “the people” of America in order to improve things for all. Elizabeth Warren focuses on similar issues and her main focuses include ending Washington corruption, rebuilding the middle class, strengthening our democracy, equal justice for all, and a foreign policy for all. Regarding her slogan, Warren seems to have a couple, but her most popular and important seems to be “Persist” which represents her and her intentions because it shows her willingness to fight with consistency until as many of her goals are achieved as possible.

Kamala Harris’ character based on her website can be described as genuine for the simple fact that she seems to practice what she preaches. On her website she is described as a “fearless advocate for the voiceless and the vulnerable” and she has shown this by doing things such as successfully suing predatory for-profit colleges who scammed students and veterans and fighting for marriage equality. These tactics show her willingness to fight for “the people” as well as anything she believes in. Her character can also be seen in her pictures and video on her page as she always has a seemingly large genuine smile on her face and is always willing to embrace her supporters when making contact. Based on her page she is trying to appeal to the middle class but also shows an interest to make things better for Americans as a whole. Elizabeth Warren’s character based on her website can be described as self-aware because she acknowledges that even though she has gone through her own struggles, she knows that there are people who have it worse, and that shows that she cares about all people outside of herself and has all American’s best interest at heart. Bases on her pictures and websites she is full of energy and truly invested in her goals. Like Harris, Elizabeth’s target group focuses mainly on the middle class but also supports Americans as a whole.

Most recently, Kamala Harris has been in the news for her proposal to increase teacher pay across the nation which is a $315 billion plan that would increase teacher pay by $13,500 on average. In an article on New York Magazine they quote Politico stating that it was “the most aggressive and expansive education proposal among the 2020 field.” This aligns with one of her promises to increase pay to a certain extent which is explained on her web page. One thing Elizabeth Warren has been in the news for is her plan to make changes to the Farming system in America. This doesn’t necessarily align with any specific thing referenced on her website, but it does show how she truly wants to make an impact on all Americans and is taking charge to do just that.

Elizabeth Warren Vs. Andrew Yang

Personal Characteristics

Elizabeth Warren does a good job balancing issues and personality. Her father was a working man and the breadwinner. He was laid off and after losing the family car, her mother took a low wage job at Sears to keep the families head above water. She enrolled in a public law school at 24 and spent the next 30 years teaching at various colleges, including Harvard. Her main running point is to end corruption in washington. Supplementary material includes: “strengthen our democracy”, “rebuild the middle class” and “equal justice under the law”. Her appeal is for the working class who have been hit harder by economic fluctuations, automation of work, and a special lustor for minority groups through the third key issue mentioned.

Andrew Yang is the son of two immigrant parents, went to Columbia Law school, and has been apart of 3 startup businesses. One of the companies focused on access to education and became the largest private provider in the country and was awarded for its prowess by the Obama administration. A key principle difference between the two is that because of Andrew Yang’s low name recognition, he has to rely on issues to drive his candidacy (See “Presentation of self”). He has virtue as an immigrant, but also as a businessman. His website focuses on his accomplishments as a businessman and not so much on his life as an immigrant. Although as mentioned before, his appeal is principally issue driven so it is intuitive for his website to be credentialistic. His campaign is centered on “Universal basic income for every American”.

Presentation of Self

Elizabeth Warren straddles between an “A” and “B” approach. The front page of her website has the issues mentioned in the previous section cycle on and off of the page. This aims to promote herself as a “do-er” and not just a talker. The issues are consolidated into 3 or 4 word phrases and builds a sense of approachability to them. While the front page is definitely more of a “B” candidate, she has a whole page dedicated to her story –“Meet Elizabeth Warren”. This is where her straddle comes in. The page projects her humanity by explicating her youth, struggle through school, familial life and her various career accomplishments. This kind of presentation aligns itself more with an“A” candidate. This page focuses on showing Mrs. Warren’s personality and thus is made to build a base for more interpersonal interaction. Her webpage outline, content, and visual information construe a populous appeal to the middle class, and minority groups (specifically African Americans, who are mentioned by name under the “Equal Protection…” tab)

Andrew Yang aligns mostly with the described candidate “B” from Fenno’s study. Due to his low name recognition, he has to drive his recognizability through his position on issues and or personal accomplishments. Like all of the other candidates, he has a part of his page that is centered around his life and how he grew up. The part labeled “Andrews Background”, is almost entirely achievement based. This is congruent to his identity as a type “B” candidate. His success comes from his position on issues and not his ability to connect directly with voters. In terms of support within the Democratic coalition, his appeal is almost directly from low skilled waged workers. He, like the majority of the democratic candidates, have adopted some of Bernie Sanders’s more serious policies (ex. medicare for all).

Media Coverage

Andrew Yang is popular among the democratic voter base. He surpassed Elizabeth Warren when he announced his candidacy. He is running as a democratic parallel to Trump. He is a businessman and is trying to capitalize on the same alleged economic grievance that helped Trump in 2016. (Questionable method according to Identity Crisis). His main running point, Universal Basic income, is actually very unpopular and runs counter to his projected identity as a hard working businessman.

Elizabeth Warren’s main issue is popularity and trustworthiness. There is a wide perception of her as a lifelong politician. She is having a hard time connecting with younger voters, and her policies are often received as echos of other candidates. She is not far left enough to compete with Bernie Sanders, her identity as a woman won’t give her enough to get ahead, that is evidenced by the 2016 election with Hillary Clinton, and Kamala Harris would win in terms of intersectionality above Warren anyway.

 

Resources

Blake, Aaron. “Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 Chances, Broken Down.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 Dec. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/31/elizabeth-warrens-chances-broken-down/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bb9b17f79a58.

Marinoff, Nick. “Democrat Andrew Yang: Different Appeal, Same Stupid Ideas.” CCN, 28 Mar. 2019, www.ccn.com/democrat-andrew-yang-different-appeal-same-stupid-ideas.

Shao, Yiqing. “Why Is Elizabeth Warren So Hard to Love?” Boston Magazine, Boston Magazine, 31 Mar. 2017, www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2017/04/02/elizabeth-warren-tough-love/.