The US Presidential Elections: Candidates in 2016

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Analysis of Democratic candidates
Republic candidates
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The US presidential elections attract numerous candidates for nomination through their respective political parties. The nomination occurs during political conventions, which are held after every 4 years in order to nominate the respective political party’s nominee for the presidential post. The nominated candidate adopts the political party’s goals and principles, which are commonly referred to as ‘the platform’. Political offices attract numerous contestants due to the associated benefits (Coleman & Neale, 2001).

Subsequently, politicians undertake intensive campaigns in an effort to ‘sell their ideas’. Therefore, politicians must adopt effective political marketing strategies in order to explain how they intend to create value for the citizens for example, by lowering the cost of living and quality of life. Currently, it is impossible for politicians to avoid adopting various marketing orientations in their quest to run for a particular political office (Rudd, 2009). Marketing is not only essential in winning presidential elections in the United States, but also in positioning oneself as an efficient and effective leader after attaining presidency.

The 2016 US presidential elections have attracted a number of contestants who will battle out for nominations. The candidates belong to the two main political parties, viz. the Democratic Party and the Republic Party. This paper evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the various candidates who have declared their interests for the 2016 presidential nominations and how they have positioned themselves using different marketing strategies.

Analysis of Democratic candidates

Doug Shreffler

He was born on 4 December 1959. Over the years, he has been involved in a number of high-ranking government organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency and as an envoy with the G4 Classification. He is a graduate of the Wentworth Military Academy. Doug Sheffler has gained substantial knowledge with regard to foreign affairs, which is critical in the US’s effort to develop a strong relationship with the international community. In his quest to become the US president, Sheffler has positioned himself as the best candidate for the American people, as evidenced by his allegiance to the American people and not the ideals upheld by his Democratic Party. This aspect shows the extent to which he is committed to liberating the American people from the rapid polarization.

Sheffler has positioned himself in the US political environment by communicating this vision to the American people, which entails renewing the American beliefs in their government. His core focus is to nurture unity amongst Americans both in the US and abroad. In a bid to achieve this goal, Sheffler will begin his unification efforts with the White House. He believes that the White House has been a major barrier in the country’s unification efforts by following ineffective traditions. In his opinion, preceding presidents such as the Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Bush have not been effective on various governance issues. For example, the successive governments have not been effective with regard to leadership, integrity, and honor. Consequently, he intends to adopt a transformational leadership style.

Doug has targeted the general population in his quest to become the US president. Subsequently, he intends to restore and strengthen the country’s social security, which has been watered down over the years. He intends to take into account the best interest for the Americans in order to benefit the future generations. Additionally, he is committed to respecting the citizens by following diplomatic options rather than wars, which have brought suffering to numerous people. Sheffler has adopted different methods in his market communication. One the methods that he has integrated include the Internet and outdoor advertising (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014a).

Michael Steinberg

Michael Steinberg is a community leader, an attorney, and an advocate for the disabled, the elderly, and veterans. He declared his interest for the Democratic Party nominations in 2013. In his presidential candidacy, Steinberg has targeted the elderly and the disabled. His motivation to consider this group was motivated by the recognition of the low rate of representation and the consideration that these voters’ rights were being ignored by the successive governments. Steinberg has a 30 years experience as a practicing lawyer in Tampa Bay, Florida. Subsequently, he has developed substantial knowledge on the difficulties experienced by the elderly, the veterans, and physically challenged in their quest for justice and having their voice heard by representatives in the White House and the Congress.

In addition to the physically challenged, Steinberg is also committed to ensuring that all the Americans are accorded their rights. Steinberg is committed to developing a smarter and efficient government. In order to achieve this goal, Steinberg has vowed to eliminate all the waste and abuse of office, which are hampering the delivery of services to the American people.

In his quest to be nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, Steinberg has positioned his political ambitions on a number of issues, which include social security, disability, and social security issues. During his political campaign, Steinberg intends to create awareness on how fraud, corruption, and mismanagement have hindered administration of these programs, which support million of American citizens. Therefore, Steinberg has positioned himself on a platform of fighting corruption.

In a bid to achieve his goal, Steinberg intends to implement modern technology in order to monitor administration of various social security programs. This move will ensure that all Americans receive their retirement’s benefits more effectively and efficiently.

Furthermore, Steinberg has also targeted the business community by advocating strong foreign policy and reform to the countries education system in order to stimulate economic growth. Steinberg is of the opinion that strengthening the country’s education sector will play a remarkable role in promoting economic growth. He believes that strengthening the education system will stimulate entrepreneurship, hence increasing job opportunities. This aspect will play a remarkable role in minimizing the citizens’ overdependence on the social welfare programs, hence reducing the government’s expenditure. The money intended for social welfare will be invested in other economic areas such as education, science, and technology for all citizens.

Steinberg has adopted different marketing communication tools in his public campaign. Some of the tools that he has integrated include Facebook, blogs, and Twitter among others. The decision to adopt these mediums of communication in his public campaign arose from the recognition of the fact that most Americans are using social media in their communication processes. Moreover, Steinberg is also conducting his political campaign through the Democratic Party’s website (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014b).

Robby Wells

He was born on 10 April 1968 in Clayton, Alabama. He has amassed substantial knowledge in exercise and health science and in adult education. Currently, he is engaged in entrepreneurship in North Carolina. With regard to politics, Robby Wells has positioned himself as a libertarian. However, he is also inclined to liberalism and conservatism.

In his political campaign, Wells advocates a number of issues. First, he intends to ensure that states have more power, which will enhance the effectiveness with which they formulate and implement their legislations. Furthermore, he intends to ensure that businesses pay taxes in accordance to their sign, which means that big businesses will be required to pay more. This aspect is one of the major weaknesses in his quest to run for the US’ presidency.

Increasing the amount of taxes charged on businesses will adversely affect the level of support amongst the business community. Furthermore, Robby Wells has not been in a position to secure substantial support from the Democratic Party. Furthermore, Wells does not have the financial muscle, which is critical in conducting political campaigns. For example, in 2012, his political campaign managed to raise only $20,000, which is not sufficient to conduct a national political campaign (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014c).

Wells has differentiated his candidacy by advocating a number of economic issues. This goal has been achieved by adopting the concept of ‘Eaglenomics’, which entails combining the right wing, left wing, government programs, and free markets in promoting economic growth. His focus is on a number of economic issues, which include

Creating prosperity and employment for all Americans
Stimulating the country’s international trade in order to reverse the trade account from deficit to surplus
Revamping the country’s tax code
Restoring the US social security in order to enhance the citizen’s financial health
Strengthening the country’s security and healthcare system
Redesigning the country’s banking system and the education sector

Wells has adopted different marketing communication methods in his political campaign. One of the methods includes undertaking the campaign through the Internet. He has clearly outlined his political ambitions by designing an official website known as Robby Wells President 2016. Furthermore, he has also adopted public relations as a tool in his political campaign. For example, he addresses the US citizens on different issues during major events such as commemoration days.

Republic candidates

Brian Russell

He announced his candidature for the 2016 presidential election upon recognition of the enormous mismanagement of the US economy. One of his major strengths is that he had developed sufficient knowledge and experience on business management. Over the years, Brian Russell has succeeded as an entrepreneur and innovator within the financial industry with the goal of restoring and stimulating the US’s economic growth.

His main target in the presidential nomination race is the business community. He believes that successive governments in the US have failed due to lack of sufficient business management skills. Subsequently, previous governments have been ineffective in their legislative roles. Most US presidents have been formulating policies without understanding what the common citizens need and their effect on the general population. He intends to weed out corruption in awarding of tenders in order to ensure that the public is optimally served. Russell has adopted social media such as Facebook and Twitter as his marketing communications mediums (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014d).

Peter King

He was born on 5 April 1944 in Queens. Currently, he is the representative of New York in the Congress. One of his major strengths is that he has substantial knowledge with regard to politics, which emanates from his education as a political scientist. Peter King has targeted the working groups in different economic sectors who have been overlooked over the years by the Republican politicians. In his opinion, King asserts that the Republican Party has continuously alleviated the various working groups such as building trades unions, construction workers, engineers, the service men, and fire fighters amongst other groups. Therefore, he intends to appeal to these voters in his quest to attain nomination for Presidential Candidacy by the Republic Party (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014e).

King has been involved in various leadership positions. In 1977, he was elected to be the head of Hempstead City Council, a position he held for 4 years. He was later joined Nassau County as the comptroller. Subsequently, he has gained substantial knowledge on leadership.

Despite these strengths, various republicans have criticized King’s leadership style for being non-inclusive and for his failure to nurture collaboration amongst leader in other positions. Some of the main critics of Peter King include Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Furthermore, various Tea Party Republicans have also criticized King for his abusive language. Analysts view King’s stance on various issues such as gun control and foreign policy could adversely affect his candidature. In an effort to seek support from US citizens, Peter King has adopted different market communication methods. One of these methods entails visiting primary states in an effort to drum support from the citizens. One of the states that he has already toured includes New Hampshire. Furthermore, Peter King is also conducting his campaign on various digital mediums such as Twitter and Facebook (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014e).

Michael Kinlaw

He was born on 20 December 1972 in Houston, Texas. He announced his presidential ambition in 2013. He has positioned himself as the ideal leader for the average American citizen. Subsequently, he has targeted the average American citizen has his core market segment. One of his major weaknesses arises from the fact that he has never held any political office. Subsequently, he intends to venture into new territory, which illustrates his risk-taking characteristic. Kinlaw has been a strong critic of his own political party, the Tea Party. Subsequently, he is strong willed with regard to implementing change.

In his political campaign, Kinlaw has illustrated his commitment towards improving the country’s foreign policy, immigration policy, and gun rights. In his political campaign, Kinlaw argues that illegal aliens are in the US illegally, which shows that he is mainly concerned with improving the security of the average American citizen. Kinlaw has also differentiated his candidature as a Republican candidate by advocating for strict austerity measures in order to control the government spending. One of the measures that he is advocating relates to reducing the size of the federal government. Additionally, he advocates the elimination of foreign aid. Kinlaw is also strong crusader of gay rights (The Politics and Governance Portal, 2014f).

Critics argue that his stance on foreign aid may adversely affect his political career, which arises from the fact that the US will experience a reduction in the volume of international trade with other countries. Furthermore, the elimination of foreign aid will hinder the US’s effort to collaborate with other countries in fighting social ills such as terrorism. Kinlaw has web-based technologies such as Facebook and Twitter in his public campaign. His strength with regard to criticizing those in the government has made him attract numerous followers on social media.

Conclusion

This paper shows that the various contenders for the 2016 presidential elections in the US have adopted different marketing strategies in their political campaigns. The politicians have integrated diverse marketing communication, positioning, targeting, and differentiation strategies. However, their success in the nomination process will depend on how they communicate their vision to the voters.

References

Coleman, K., & Neale, T. (2001). Presidential elections in the United States; a primer. Huntington, OH: Novinka Books. Web.

Rudd, C. (2009). Global political marketing. New York, NY: Routledge. The Politics and Governance Portal: Brian Russell. Web.

The Politics and Governance Portal: Doug Shreffler. (2014a). Web.

The Politics and Governance Portal: Michael Kinlaw. (2014f). Web.

The Politics and Governance Portal: Michael Steinberg. (2014b). Web.

The Politics and Governance Portal: Peter King. (2014e). Web.

The Politics and Governance Portal: Robby Wells. (2014c). Web.

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