2016 Presidential Candidates
Introduction
The 2016 elections campaign has seen many hopefuls from the republican and the democratic parties as well as a few independent candidates campaigning for nominations by their various parties. The various campaigns have been conducted country wide in the specific states and also over media channels through various interviews. This time round the polls seem to be going against the general public’s expectations and it is therefore not easy to make a clear prediction as to which side will emerge as victors.
The list of candidates for the republican seat is led by business mogul Donald Trump who is followed closely by Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie who appear to be in the lead. The other republican candidates are John Kasich, Ben Carson, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, the only female candidate vying for the republican seat, Rick Santorum and Jim Gilmore. The democrats are led by Hillary Clinton who has been leading on most polls followed by Bernie Sanders and martin O’Malley.
Implications of the Iowa Caucuses to the 2016 Presidential Candidates
The Iowa Caucuses saw Donald trump emerge second after Ted Cruz in a twist that Trump admits he did not expect considering he had expected worse results Marco Rubio came at a close third. The democrats saw Hillary top over Sanders by a very close margin. The caucuses in Iowa are usually a big deal since Iowa is usually the first state in the country to show its support for a presidential candidate (Clark 15).This state’s level of support usually points to the amount of support that the particular candidate may receive from the rest of the country and it is therefore greatly significant. It is a representation of everyday normal people voting their minds. The campaign strategies in this region could be what dictate the polls depending on how well the candidate is able to reach out and convince the people to show their support. The caucus acts as a test to campaign managers to determine if their campaign strategies are working and whether or not they are required to improve on this.
The party leaders are also able to determine who they would support for the race into the white house. The media also seems to place a spotlight on those who perform well during the caucus and this goes a long way in campaigning for the emergent winner all over the country by giving them good press (Graham 25). History has shown that no candidate who emerged first in the Iowa caucus ever emerged lower than third position in the overall elections.
Donald Trump’s Campaign Strategies
Donald Trump during most of his speeches had managed to anger immigrants, particular religions especially Islam, and even most republicans who did not agree on most of his views in the media. His views were termed as racist and most people viewed him to be too radical. His campaign slogan “Make America great again”, which he trademarked in 1980 (Trump 16), appeared to be at whatever cost. His views expressed in his announcement speech,which was the longest documented announcement speech, led to mass demonstrations by Mexicans after he made remarks that he would deport all of them after he was voted in and also put up a wall between the American-Mexican border while placing the costs on the Mexican government created uproar in the media and all over the country. He linked illegal immigrants to the rising cases of theft and crimes in the country and he believed that ensuring no illegal immigrants were in the country would go a long way in ensuring internal security.
It therefore comes as a surprise to find him topping the polls. How he has managed to gunner that level of public support could be attributed to his populist and nativist politics. He is persistent in his speeches that he will do anything in his power to ensure border security and in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Paris many Americans who live in fear of a recurrent of the 9/11 attacks give him full support. His supporters do not go to his rallies specifically to hear the truth, but to listen to trump tell their version of the truth. Those who have found themselves victims of immigrants whether legal or illegal also support his views on security. He has campaigned extensively in both Iowa and New Hampshire for both the caucus and the primary election held in the states respectively. He has asserted on several occasions in his speeches that he is confident in his financial standing. He insists he does not require lobbyists or donors for his campaign but he will fund it himself.
His campaign strategy involves use of the traditional rallies with buttons and banners and also online on social media, use of campaign apps and also he employed a retaliate strategy after Stacey Graham gave out his personal cell number in public making the number to play a campaign message whenever the public tried to use it. Strategy was referred as brilliant by many. Whether or not he will emerge victorious as the republican candidate cannot be determined at this point in time however he does have a strong public backing.
Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Strategies and Agenda
Hillary Clinton will be running for the democrat seat for the second time in a row after losing to Barrack Obama in the previous election. The former secretary of state had released a book Hard choices for which she did a nationwide tour. Many viewed this as a pre-announcement tour to gain support before her campaign. Since early 2015 she has been considered a frontrunner for the democratic party seeing as she was the second runners up in the previous election party primaries. Her stakes are also higher since she has been in government for longer periods and she had managed to cement support from various parts of the country. Following her announcement for candidacy through a YouTube video, she began her campaign through rallies in early primary and caucus states. She avoided media interviews and gave minimum comments to the media during the trips to rallies. She focused her attention to future middle income citizens, local students and local residents. Her campaign speeches are centered on issues on the economy, income inequality especially for women, paid family leave and college affordability. In her first campaign speech, she addressed her age as a contender and assured citizens that it was a non-issue. She also talked about her track record her achievements as she warned supporters o expect her critics to revisit issues from her past such as controversial emails and the Benghazi issue.
Her campaign strategists evaluated what Obama did right in his campaigns and tried to employ the same tactics to get her the votes (Campaign 45). Their campaign is liberal and is working towards rebranding Hillary from what people viewed her as a first lady and also a secretary of state and into a presidential figure.ge is mainly because she was already a household name Hillary’s advantage in the campaigns is mainly because she is already a household name whom people have seen in a position of power and would therefore be able to trust more easily as was stated in her website. She laid out a populist agenda in her kick off campaign
Campaign Strategies for other Candidates in the 2016 Presidential Race
The other candidates in the election have exploited greatly use of media exploiting any media attention they get to advance their campaign. Ted Cruz had focused his campaign greatly on Iowa and the southern states and this would explain his win over Trump in the caucus. He is targeting the religious conservatives as he is a very religious republican. His support in Iowa came from the over 50% evangelicals. Ted Cruz had the best kick off campaign of all the republicans and most democrats; having made over 30 campaign stops since. He started after his announcement to running for presidency in the company of his wife and two daughters. This election does not seem to be in favor of democrats this time round in history. He held a week long campaign in Iowa that led his winning the caucus. Trumps kick off was followed by a lot of controversies and appeared to be very lavish. Hillary’s kick off attracted so many people although the media reported that the numbers given by her campaigners on the number of attendees was exaggerated if estimates by media presents are anything to go by.
Jeb bush has the advantage of his family heritage being rooted republicans. He is using this in his campaigns to gain support while also rallying up votes through his website that contains reviews from various prominent persons about his ability as president. He is leading in terms of money raised and in terms of endorsements (Upshot 3).His rallies are extravagant and are hosting large masses. Bernie Sanders seems to be gaining in popularity having lost to Clinton in the Iowa polls by a small margin and the statistics poll predictions for the primaries in New Hampshire have him as number one over Clinton who is fairing second.
Martin O’Malley is fairing third in the democrats his campaign is mainly in rallies and online forums such as social sites. Mike Huckabee is also doing very well in his campaigns and his conservative views have won him support from the republicans and also from notable celebrities who have come forward to endorse him. Having served as a governor he is receiving immense support from his state.
The reaching out to the people strategy he employs on face book, twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube is being used by other candidates as well. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul do not seem to be doing very well in the polls as the dominant candidates like Trump who are more popular backlash them in their rallies. Others do not have much support as they are not well established in the political arena and their campaigns are not drafted around popularizing them and creating them into a brand that could become a household name. The polls and statistics are not usually fixed and opinion polls count but not as much as the Caucus and New Hampshire primary. The prediction markets also play a predictor role and may influence votes. The outcome however cannot be foretold to a surety.
Works Cited
Campaign, Hillary Clinton.Hillary; Clinton for 2016. 2015. 2016 <http://www.hillaryclinton.com/contribute/donate/Iowa-caucus>.
Clark, Josh. "why is the Iowa caucus so important?" culture and political issues (2015).
Graham, David A. "The 2016 U.S presidential race:A cheat sheet." The Atlantic (2016).
Trump, Donald. Donald Trump for 2016. 2016. 2016 <https://DonaldJtrump.com>.
Upshot, The. "Who is winning the presidential campaign." The new york times (2016).
