Toney Knowles's Message Strategy
Content of Message
| Knowles on Knowles | Knowles on Murkowski |
Jobs for Alaska Healthcare Expierence A True Alaskan Better Schools |
Irresponsible Healthcare Policies Inherited Position
|
Delivery of Message
Knowles’s narrative presented himself as an independent, hard working Alaskan. The campaign told this story by introducing Knowles as a Vietnam veteran who was a roughneck. Next, the campaign expressed how his strong personality helped Knowles throughout his political career. Finally, the campaign expressed how Knowles’s strengths would create a better Alaska. The campaign tried to frame the election around social issues, which democrats are perceived as better at handling (Petrocik 1996). These issues included helping the middle class through job creation, improving health care, and better schools.
Likewise, the Knowles campaign created a narrative about Murkowski. The Murkowski narrative was that she is out of touch. The Knowles campaign started by saying that Murkowski gave tax breaks to Exxon and companies that ship jobs over seas. They followed with an attack on Murkowski for voting against cheaper Canadian drugs. Late in the campaign they attacked Murkowski for inheriting her position.
Evaluation of Message
Strategic Evaluation of Message
Knowles needed to give Alaskans a reason to vote for him and a reason not to vote for his opponent. The Knowles campaign set up a contrast between Knowles and Murkowski and framed it around issues that democrats are perceived as better at handling. Despite the $5 million spent trying to convey this, 28% of voters thought that the most important issue of the campaign was moral values. Of these 28%, only one fourth of them voted for Knowles (Exit Polls 11/3/04). Knowles ran a strong campaign, but it came down to a Republican winning a Republican state.
Normative Evaluation of Message
The highly negative campaign was criticized by the media (Volz 11/3/04). However, it has been shown that negative ads increase voter knowledge (Sellers 11/12/04). While negative ads are acceptable, Knowles may have stepped over the line when one of his ads claimed that Murkowski voted for a $6.5 billion tax cut for Exxon. That figure was created by the Knowles campaign (National Journal 10/29/04). Knowles's campaign attempted to educate voters, but did flirt with deceiving voters; however, his overall message was not bad for politics like some media members claimed.
Works Cited Pledge
Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to Jordan Sundheim
Date Created: 11/11/2004. Last Updated 11/15/2004.
Political Science 318 - Strategy and Ehtics in Election Campaigns
