You’ve heard the expression, democracy can be messy. Well, two Illinois State University professors would add part of the debris is left by politicians who often ignite fear and anger by using their fiery rhetoric on would-be voters. It’s a strategy as old as democracy because the seasoned researchers say it often works.
Illinois State University Political Science Professor Dr. Carl Palmer says history is rife with examples of ugly campaigns. He points to more modern-day examples with Lyndon Johnson’s Daisy Girl Ad with a girl picking daisy petals in a field and then an explosion of a nuclear kind to paint Republican primary opponent Barry Goldwater as a fringe candidate who would support nuclear war.
Palmer points out, “Goldwater’s campaign slogan was ‘In his heart you know he’s right’ and the Democrat’s chorus was ‘In your guts, you know he’s nuts.’” But, Palmer stresses that was just a single ad.
“So we have small snippets of fear [with that campaign] but this is now something that permeates the entire campaign,” he said, referring to today’s Trump and Clinton campaign rhetoric.
Fear and Anger: A Powerful Combo Platter
Communications Professor Joseph Zompetti, who is the author of the book Divisive Discourse: The Extreme Rhetoric of Contemporary Politics, agrees fear and anger have been used more than ever before and they can be particularly effective, especially when used together.
“People can be more motivated to vote or at least to seek out information to see what available options there are.” For example, he said someone who is angry about terrorism is likely to be swayed by messages that stoke fears about it.
But, Zompetti says fear-fueled messages don’t have a lasting impact so they need to be switched up often. “I think the verdict is still out to see if they’ve [Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton] been switching it up enough.”
As Zompetti considers the two campaigns he adds, “Certainly with Donald Trump we have seen a variety of different fear appeals that have been employed, most notably one of the initial ones, was when he talked about building a wall and he used immigration fears to motivate support for his positions back during the primary.”
Zompetti says more recently, Trump has used the Syrian refugee crisis and the argument that it might risk more terrorism. However, he says Hillary Clinton hasn’t switched her scare tactics much. “She hasn’t been using them as much as Donald Trump. I think her primary fear appeal is ‘We don’t want Donald Trump,’” he said.
Some of her critics have said Clinton has for too long been focusing on the apocalyptic scenario of the world if Trump is elected. Dr. Palmer predicts as voters become more engaged the Clinton camp will switch tactics to ads that contrast her positions with Trump’s, instead of messages like her most recent Mirror Ad. It shows young girls looking a mirror while the viewer hears Donald Trump’s insults of women in the background.
Palmer sees Clinton’s single, fear-based message as possibly responsible for her place in the polls as she headed into the first debate.
“You might make the argument that as the race has become narrower and narrower that some of that may be due to the fact that she is over reliant on saying ‘Donald Trump is going to be the worst’ as opposed to talking about how she is going to be better for America.”
Learn more about musings and research by Zompetti and Palmer in the latest edition of Illinois State University Redbird Scholar magazine and in this Sound Ideas interview.
