Presidential Dbq Essay

Believe it or not, there was a time in history where it was unnecessary for candidates to campaign. The tiresome job of campaigning was left to the political parties and their staffs. As time has passed, it appears that the candidates themselves have taken charge of the campaigns. Presidential candidates need to appeal to the public in order to gain support. In this day and age, mass media is the most efficient way to do it. The careful sculpting of the candidate’s images have taken a very important role in presidential campaigns. The use of the “idiot box” has prioritized images above issues and transformed how we view and elect our nation’s leaders.
In our society today, television offers unrealistic glimpses at presidential candidates. The media is more concerned with making every president an iconic American pop-star instead of portraying them as a potential leader. According to Source B, “because of television’s celebrity system, Presidents are losing their distinctiveness as social actors and hence are often judged by standards formerly used to assess rock singers and movie stars”. We don’t remember what bill or law they passed or even how they

lead the last city they were in, but instead we focus on what they said or wore. It is no longer a matter of politics. We are more interested on what they have on and what drama the news station is stirring up because of a controversial statement they made. Source B states that “in television’s increasingly postmodern world, all texts-serious and sophomoric-swirl together in the same discontinuous field of experience”. Everything is a pretentious competition when it comes to politics. On television, the media creates an elaborate illusion where serious and juvenile issues seem to mesh together. If we base our opinions solely on the media, it becomes harder and harder to tell the difference between showy concoctions and legitimate issues on television.
Personality and image have always had a dominant role on how presidents are elected, now the distortion of the media on television exaggerates it. Television broadcast have only increased the need for a good personality and image during campaigns. The only problem with this is that “television ha[s] dumbed down the issues” according to Source C. What we see on the television may not be what we get later. Television prioritizes images over actuality. The media knows that it is easier to win the support of the American people if the candidate has a good image on the television, regardless to the personality off screen. Source C states that “our national politics has become a competition for images or between images, rather than between ideals”. Television is more so focused on what we see now, versus what we get later. Instead of the people making educated decisions based on the presidents as they are, votes are cast based on who is portrayed to have the best image.
Although, I prefer to reaffirm my original stance, I recognize the positive effects of television.

According to Source A, “one of the great contributions expected of television lay in its presumed capacity to inform and stimulate the political interests of the American electorate….Television [...] provides a new, direct, and sensitive link between Washington and the people”. Watching television notifies us of what’s going on and encourages us to go vote. It gives people who would otherwise not ordinarily be concerned with politics a glimpse of what is going on in the political world. What the media says about the candidates on tv makes viewer curious and encourages political involvement. We can see and know what’s going on in Washington. Knowing what is going on, we are more likely to make better, informed

decisions.
The only fault in this is the information that we see. As an audience, we do not see everything that goes on behind the scenes. We may be missing essential details that could make or break our country in the future. Despite the fact that television has reconnected Americans to politics, it has offered a distorted view that concentrates on the image of the candidates rather than showing us how they will lead us.