The purpose of any political campaign is to persuade voters that you are the best option. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, considered logos, ethos and pathos, forms of public persuasion.
The logos appeal to reason through arguments. Ethos appeals to the status or authority of the speaker, seeking the trust of the audience, and pathos invokes emotions.
Campaign speeches, advertising, subliminal images and even music always contain some or all of these elements.
The appeal to logos was used extensively in The Declaration of Independence, when Thomas Jefferson’s arguments convinced citizens that King George’s actions were acts of corruption that affected the interests of the colonists.
On the Library of Congress website there is an excerpt with details of the election campaign poster of the thirteenth president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, (1850 -1853).
“The ad depicts the figures of Justice and Liberty surrounding the figure of Fillmore among American flags. Would this symbolism influence a modern voter? “Probably not, but we still see American flags in ads for current presidential candidates.”
When the 14th Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke (2006-2014) said in 2010: “My three decades of experience in public service, my tireless commitment to this community, and my willingness to reach out to all parties and cooperate with the opposition, they make me the ideal candidate,” he used an ethos message.
For SAGE, a global academic political research publisher, “Democrats and Republicans do not differ much in their use of pathos or emotional language, however, members of the minority party are systematically more emotional than those of the majority party, a trend reversible when “the party in control is no longer in control.”
After Donald Trump’s recent victories, Nikki Haley’s chances of winning the Republican nomination seemed to fade, but the former South Carolina governor believes the campaign is worth continuing and as she said after the loss in New Hampshire, “it remains “a long way to go.”
“As long as I continue to grow by state, I’ll be in this race,” Haley said, adding, “I have every intention of going to Super Tuesday.”
Still ahead are primary elections in Nevada on February 6, South Carolina on February 24 and multiple Super Tuesday elections including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, North Carolina and Texas, all on February 5. May.
For Haley it is vital that money continues to flow to her campaign.
Wall Street billionaires Stanley Druckenmiller, Henry Kravis, Ken Langone and Cliff Asness are betting on Haley, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, the so-called anti-Trumpers in the Republican Party doubt that Trump’s success in Iowa and New Hampshire means an overwhelming vote for the former president, and that even if he wins the nomination in July, he will have difficulty defeating President Joe Biden. .
The key lies in Trump’s supporters, who could begin to doubt the former president if he is found guilty in relation to the 91 charges he faces.
Of course, Trump continues to call the allegations a political witch hunt. This attitude has been received with applause by his base even though recent polls (New York Times/Sienna College) predict that a conviction could make a difference.
Trump’s strategy has been not to appear worried in public. In fact, he has all but declared that he is the only candidate in the Republican race and Biden, after the Iowa and New Hampshire results, appears to accept that as well. Although a draft resolution from the Republican National Committee seeking to declare Trump as the party’s presidential nominee was withdrawn last Thursday.
So how long can Nikki Haley continue her campaign?
The irony is that a YouGov poll from January showed that if the election were between Biden and Haley, she would win with more votes than Trump.
This is by far one of the most unpredictable predictable elections in recent times, as there are so many variables that what is now could be very different in a few months.
