Blog Entry #6

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/304207/three-winning-ads-for-romney?page=0,0

            The title of this article is, “Three Winning Ads for Romney,” and was written by Tad Devine. It was posted on the concordmonitor.com on January 11, 2012. This article is about how Romney has been pretty successful during his campaign. Romney sees himself as the strongest candidate because of his real-world experience and his potential performance in a general election. The author of this article stated, “I have worked on presidential campaigns for five Democratic nominees and produced candidates across the country and around the world.” This author also believes that TV ads are a crucial part in determining a winner in this campaign. If Romney is able to produce the right ads, he will most likely have the nomination. This democratic ad-maker believes that Romney is only three ads away from winning the Republican nomination. Then the author goes on to talk about what should be in the three ads. The first one should include his wife talking about her husband as well as the fact that he supported her through her fight with multiple sclerosis. This shows the audience that Romney is a faithful husband which is good when compared to Newt Gingrich’s multiple affairs. This also shows that Romney is a person of integrity which is the opposite of the newsletters involving Ron Paul. The author states, “Ann Romney can make a simple but powerful argument that her husband stood by her through tough times and hat he is prepared to stand by America in tough times as well.” The second ad should be something negative about Newt Gingrich, but it should not be the typical narrator ad. Instead, a camera crew should be sent to Gingrich’s old congressional district where many people strongly dislike Gingrich. These voters, who Gingrich once represented, could have a significant impact in South Carolina and Florida. Finally, the third ad should be that Romney should connect with voters by appearing in his own ads which would include him telling the voters why he is running for president and what he will do to fix the country’s problems especially the economy and the creation of jobs. This article is significant because it was written by someone who makes TV ads for the opposite side: the Democrats. Although this man is telling the reader what Romney needs to do in order to secure the nomination, if Romney is chosen this way the Democrats can use the advertisements Romney created against him. It is also significant because Romney has a great chance of winning the Republican nomination and has even a greater chance if he creates three political ads correctly.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/12/2919635/romney-rolls-into-south-carolina.html

            The title of this article is, “Romney Rolls into South Carolina; GOP Nomination in Sight?” This was written by David Espo and Shannon McCaffrey and was posted on January 12, 2012 on charlotteobserver.com. This article is about how Romney has been able to win the first two states’ delegates and that he is on a good path. Romney told the authors that he does not want to be overconfident, even though Romney brought up his plans for challenging President Obama in the fall. Even though Romney is the front-runner, his competitors are not surrendering. Gingrich, at the first Southern primary state, attacked Romney’s business career and also created an ad telling the public that Romney is a flip-flopper on abortion. Rick Perry was also able to show his Southern side in his campaign which is something Romney is unable to do. However, Romney got help from surprising resources after winning in New Hampshire. Ron Paul was angry with Gingrich and Perry for being critical of Romney due to the fact that he is the front-runner. These criticisms included Romney’s business experience. Jim DeMint, Senator of South Carolina, agreed with Paul and he flat out stated, “I think Romney’s going to win here…He’s hitting a lot of hot buttons for me about balancing the budget, and frankly I’m a little concerned about the few Republicans who have criticized some of what I consider to be free market principles here.” Many of the Republican candidates wanted DeMint’s endorsement and so far, he has been neutral. With upcoming debates, the high unemployment rate (in South Carolina at 9.9 percent) is something that will be discussed. Although Romney won in Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina is considered to have little in common with these two states. Jon Huntsman, instead of criticizing Romney’s business experience, criticized Romney’s record as the governor of Massachusetts. If Romney wins in South Carolina, it could become a quick end to what for a while seemed like it might be a long battle. Gingrich also believes the same thing. He stated, “There’s no more time for talking about stopping Mitt Romney. We’re going to do it next week in South Carolina or he’s almost certain to be the Republican nominee.” Although it looks like Romney could also win South Carolina, Romney is unsure if he can win. Romney brought up the impact of being a Mormon could have on his chances. Romney stated, “The conservatives in New Hampshire, the people who called themselves very conservative, the tea partyers in New Hampshire, supported me.” He also believes that, “There are people who want to elect a commander in chief. They’re not worried about electing a pastor in chief.” The most significant reason for why Romney won the New Hampshire primary is the fact that the primary goers want a candidate who can beat Obama. Another aspect of Romney’s strength is the money he was able to raise. His campaign announced that it had $19 million. This article is significant because it seems that Romney has a great chance of winning in South Carolina because he seems to be the candidate who could beat Obama in the presidential election. It is also significant because it shows which candidates are somewhat afraid of Romney’s success and therefore which candidates would do whatever it takes to bring Romney down.