One of the most difficult and critical decisions to make for the United States population has been and continues to be choosing the better candidate for President. Campaigning to be President is a difficult task because effective strategies must be used to persuade people to believe they are the appropriate individual for the position rather than their opponents. Due to the lack of modern-day technology, print ads were the most common type of advertisement used for campaigning until approximately the mid-1900s, but the candidates pre-1900s didn’t need to appeal to the entire population, mainly upper and middle class white men because they were the majority of the population with voting rights, because not everyone had the right to vote –few black males in the South that were former slaves, few women in Wyoming and Utah, and middle and upper class white men (who were mostly land owners), all at age eighteen or older, had voting rights (Ayers, Gould and Oshinsky 510) . During the campaigning for the election of 1884, James Blaine, a Republican strongly motivated to win the Presidential election, published a series of print ads using a negative campaigning strategy; they directly aimed to negatively portray Grover Cleveland and his party, the Democrats, to significantly and intentionally play upon the morals of that particular group of white men. In turn, the campaign became one based upon not what each candidate had to offer the country but the personal character of each individual.
One print ad, currently at the Museum of American Political Life, that was published, most likely in a newspaper, by Blaine in 1884 drastically compares the lifestyle differences that are expected to surface upon nomination depending on the selected party in office as a result of wages being affected by a tariff[1] (Boorstin, Kelley and Boorstin 458) . The colored print ad is a drawing rather than a photograph because color photographs were not available at the time, photographs were not printed in newspapers, and a photograph could not capture in precise detail the message being offered by the author; at this time, drawn, colored print ads were very common as a result of the color being the first thing the viewer notices, which captures the audience’s attention and persuades them to proceed in considering the ad. This particular print ad is conveniently in a landscape layout, making comparisons much easier to analyze, in which the first half of the page shows the projected damages to a man’s life if Cleveland is elected for President, and the second half displays the projected and desired lifestyle if Blaine is elected.
In the first image, a raggedly-dressed family of four is shown in their slum-like house. While the poorly, dirtily dressed man of the house is cutting bread for a meal on a table accompanied by a broken chair, the woman of the house, dressed in green rags, appears to be sending her son somewhere. A little, brunette girl sluggishly sits in a cradle on the severely damaged, wood floor. The filthy walls are accented with cracks and a frameless picture, and instead of the well-known “Welcome” mat upon entry of one’s home, the “Welcome” was implied by a door-less entrance where a factory is pictured from a left-side angled view outside. At the top of the image, it is described as “The effects of a Tariff exclusively for Revenue as laid down in the Democratic Platform and which the Democratic Congressman tried to enact last winter at Washington.” At the bottom of the image it states “Democratic Free-Trade Means low wages, children in rags, and ignorance;” followed by “If you are satisfied with this picture vote for Cleveland…” This image displays some of man’s greatest fears, but the subsequent image is contrary in all aspects.
In the second image, completely opposite to the previous, a different, well-dressed family of five is shown in their well-kept home. The intelligent, sophisticated –appearing man of the house is holding his blonde, toddler girl while the woman of the house appears to be saying her goodbyes to her son who is awaited by his older sister at the open front door where two sets of railroad tracks and a factory are pictured at a right-side angled view outside. In this scenario, the house is clean and nicely decorated with multiple framed photos, curtains, and area rugs, and left-over food with place settings rest upon the table-cloth covered dining table. Unlike the preceding image, this home is greeted with a “Welcome” mat upon entrance. At the top of the image, it is described as “The effects of Protection to American Industries as guaranteed by the Republican Party and Platform.” At the bottom of the image, it states “Republican Protection Means good wages, happy homes, and education for your children;” it is proceeded by “If you prefer this picture vote for Blaine…” With the print ad’s image now mentally embedded, an understanding of the different aspects and appeals can be determined.
The simple-sentenced and limited text, which provide the ad’s basis and the key to interpretation, effectively makes the ad easy to understand by not overwhelming the audience with information and allowing the images to do the talking, which is important for the time period because approximately only eighty percent of the population was literate to different extents –with and without formal education (National Center for Education Statistics) . Although the population and economic growth increased the importance of education (seen as a requirement to have a decent life and a gateway to higher income classification) for that particular time period by the standards of life being and getting higher, advertisement still needed to be simplistic for those who were education deprived. In this print ad, for example, in the sentence that states “Democratic Free-Trade Means low wages, children in rags, and ignorance,” we can assume that the word “adults” is omitted from “children in rags” because by having the emphasis being on the children, it can naturally be assumed that if children are in rags then their parents are too, and therefore, the exclusion of “adults” makes the same point but with the emphasis on the aspect of children rather than adults and children, making the ad more audience- friendly by saving time, thought, and possible criticism for stating the obvious. Also, the interpreted message of “Vote for Blaine and not Cleveland” avoids possible hostility to the presented argument, Cleveland and the Democrats versus Blaine and the Republicans, by stating “If you are satisfied with this picture vote for Cleveland…” for the Democratic scenario and “If you prefer this picture vote for Blaine…” for the Republican scenario, and therefore, the author maintains a position of neutrality to the argument. In turn, the audience would likely choose to favor the “good” scenario, but one print ad’s persuasion is not enough to win the campaign because the audience is provided with factors offered by the opponent too. If the print ad consisted of only the text, yes, the message would be available but without appeal, and therefore, the images are necessary to effectively relay the message.
Although the text is necessary to delivering the ad’s message, the images and their details are by far the most important contributions within the print ad because they motivate the audience to proceed to and complete a thorough analysis of each situation. With this particular Presidential campaign ad, Blaine is mudslinging [2] by indirectly attempting to persuade his audience to vote for him by planting a seed in his viewers’ minds that Republicans are better than Democrats, and as a result of the voting population’s concerns[3], leaving the basis of their votes on moral and religious beliefs, the most effective, audience-touching aspect, the comparison of two different families’ –which we know because the facial features are different, the hair of the toddler girls are different colors in each scenario, there is another child in the “good” scenario, the house structures vary, and the point of view of the factory implies possibly neighboring homes –quality of life, is the display of what Blaine believed he needed to take into consideration regarding what he felt to be his audience’s most important values: work, family, and quality of life (Ayers, Gould and Oshinsky 510) . Also, with the given image portrayal, it can be expected that family and responsibilities to family are important to a man, which at that time [men] had high moral standards and religious beliefs, because it is obvious that he is the provider –which can be assumed because the woman of the house is attending to mother, wife, and household duties rather than being of independence like the males –and has a close-appearing relationship with his family, and the portrayal of the women also eliminate them from the author’s target audience. Additional key aspects contribute to the narrowing of the audience.
In the images, only white people are shown, therefore, leaving white people solely within the target audience. Additionally, as a result of the men appearing to be in between the twenty-five and forty-five age range and the man in the “good” scenario being sophisticatedly dressed, implying success, in his own home, implying ownership, the audience is further reduced. Finally, the statement “Protection of American Industries”[4] further reduces the audience to businesses and laborers because almost all categories of industries would likely be negatively affected by the Democrat-favored free-trade[5]. Therefore, Out of approximately 50 million people, Blaine’s audience can be narrowed down directly to upper and middle class, literate, successful, and land-owning white males (business men or laborers), likely between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five, who hold the majority of voting rights (Demographic history of the United States) . Now that the physical aspects of the ad have been evaluated, the features of the internal appeals can be examined.
For self-presentation, Blaine essentially presents himself to the audience as a third person, allowing his viewers to perceive him exclusively as the representative for the Republican Party to provide Protection to American Industries. As a result, the audience could be left to believe that someone else is implying to vote for him rather than himself. With this technique, since the message is not viewed as coming from him or solely his opinion, the audience could be persuaded toward his favor because someone besides Blaine appears to be providing the message, but on the contrary, although Blaine was popular, the population questioned his political honesty as a result of a prior incident regarding the corrupted awarding of railroad charters (James G. Blaine) . Although the chances of Blaine being acknowledged as the author may be limited, the audience most likely finds the author, known or unknown, to be credible.
Regardless of the author’s self-presentation position, the factual appeal of the revenue tariff that the Democrats previously attempted to enact, which the author bases the argument’s support on its damages, permits the audience to consider the author to be knowledgeable and credible. The Mongrel Tariff Act (of 1883), designed to allow free trade and break down protection by decreasing and increasing tariff rates on different things, was the response from Congress after President Arthur tried to find ways to lower the existing tariff, an issue that surfaced in the 1870s; it satisfied no one because it mostly increased duties rather than lowered them, which was beneficial to few and damaging to many others (Tariff of 1883) . It was believed by the Democrats and their followers in favor of the tariff that “high customs duties protected American Industry, helped workers, and developed the economy,” but the effects were adverse (Ayers, Gould and Oshinsky 511) . Therefore, provided the acknowledgement of the tariff, Blaine is left in a positive and credible standing with the audience. Using the tariff as supporting evidence of the argument’s basis leaves the thought in the viewers’ minds that if they choose Blaine they’ll be provided with Protection of American Industries and have a good quality of life or if they choose Cleveland, who favors the tariff, they will have a poor quality of life. Even though the effect of the factual appeal was significant, the appeal of one’s life’s quality is far more effective.
The appeal of one’s life’s quality is the aspect of the print ad that immediately persuades the audience to analyze every detail held within following the attention-grabbing color. Having being provided with two different scenarios, the audience becomes emotionally entangled to the print ad’s message because of the relation to and fear of their desired and undesired life’s standards of home, family, and work. While the quality of life comparison provided captivates the audience by its factors regarding the value of assets, the happiness in one’s home, and more importantly, the well-being of family, the diction captures the audience by their prioritizing of their children’s education, which at this time had increasingly high demand because of the population and economic growth, and the importance of wages earned, which without reasonable earnings supporting a family would be difficult and a poor quality of life would exist. With one’s life’s quality having been the most effective appeal, the use of multiple appeals working together deems this particular ad to be effective
Although campaigning is definitely a difficult task, as shown in the Blaine versus Cleveland Campaign, the effort applied during the campaign must be utilized appropriately to effectively persuade the target audience. For example, this print ad significantly attracts the audience by the appeal of one’s life’s quality and a fact creating the argument’s basis while the author maintains a stance of neutrality, which guides the audience subconsciously toward the favor of Blaine. Regardless of Blaine’s sole participation in the subconsciously-persuading, demeaning print ads he was still unable to win against Cleveland, who fathered an illegitimate child. With the votes being in close distance, the issue of corruption in the government was shown as greater concern to the population rather than personal immorality when Cleveland was elected for President.
Works Cited
Ayers, Edward L., et al. American Passages: A History of the United States. 4th. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2008.
Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather Kelley and Ruth Frankel Boorstin. A History of the United States. Needham: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002.
Demographic history of the United States. n.d. 11 July 2011 <wikipedia.org>.
James G. Blaine. n.d. 11 July 2011 <wikipedia.org>.
National Center for Education Statistics. National Assessment of Adult Literacy. n.d. 11 July 2011 <nces.ed.gov>.
Tariff of 1883. n.d. 11 July 2011 <wikipedia.org>.
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[1] A set of rates designed to raise money for the government
[2] Wikipedia.com’s colloquial synonym for Negative Campaigning
[3] how the government raised and used money, the corruption within government officials, new and changing taxation, and the protective tariff
[4] Republicans, who believed in stimulating the economy, didn’t approve of trade with other countries because of potential threats.
[5] Democrats, who believed in government’s non-interference with industries, favored free trade with foreign nations.
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