You are a campaign manager. Choose one of the exercises below.

1. Compare and contrast a commercial from the 2008 campaign and one from a previous election. You can select any candidate, even one who has dropped out of the race. You might want to present your findings using PowerPoint.

Here are some questions to think about while you are analyzing the content. What were some of the social issues then and now? What are the key elements in the ad. Who is the target audience? Do the ads appeal to human emotion? Look at the artistry in filming. How does it differ from the ads of 2008?

You may want to illustrate your points with movie clips or still frames from movie clips. You can cut frames in your QuickTime viewing program to the clipboard. Then, paste them into your word processing or presentation program.

Web sites for Campaign Advertising

200 Years of Stunning and Strange Campaign Posters
The 30 Second Candidate
All Politics
All Politics Campaign Ads Archive
C-Span Road to the White House
The Living Room Candidate
PBS: Dissect an Ad

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Stranger things have happened. Hold on, and you may walk over the sluggish animal up there yet/ Thomas Nast Courtesy of Tthe Library of Congress

2. Oops! Your candidate said something that the opposition has decided to turn to their advantage. Many of these guffaws are expressed in political cartoons. Your mission is to take the heat off your candidate by using the media to stir up controversy about his/her opponent. Draw a political cartoon.

Look at some examples of political cartoon humor. Search Web sites for current issues that you can use as material in your own creation. What is the artist's style. Does the artist have a tradmark signature?

You will need good drawing paper or poster board, markers, and a flat area to work. You can also use a computer drawing program.

3. Create your own video advertisment using information about your candidate.

Political Cartoons and Humor

America in Caricature 1765-1865
An Editorial Cartoon in Two Minutes
FDR Cartoons
Herbert Hoover Presidential Cartoons
Oliphant's Anthem
Political Cartoons Illustrating Progressivism and the Election of 1912
Political Cartoons of Thomas Nast
Truman LibraryCartoons and Teaching Materials
William McKinley in Political Cartoon
Drawing Political Cartoons Grades 9-12