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 The 30 Second Candidate All Politics All Politics Campaign Ads Archive C-Span Campaign Network: Watch Politics The Living Room Candidate Savvy Voter: Dissect an Ad Click to view larger image 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 Cartoonery Cartoons from Harper's Weekly FDR Cartoons Herbert Hoover Presidential Cartoons Oliphant's Anthem Political Cartoons Illustrating Progressivism and the Election of 1912 Political Cartoons of Thomas Nast Project WhistleStop - Harry Truman Teachers' Guide for Cagle's Cartoonists William McKinley in Political Cartoon Creating a Cartoon - Newsday Drawing Political Cartoons Grades 9-12

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