Midterm Elections
As our world has become increasingly digital, so have our elections. Candidates for all levels of government focus much more of their attention on their online presence because, in the end, a candidate’s social media pretense is what can make or break their election. We saw how Donald Trump used social media to his advantage since loud, inflammatory posts usually get the most attention. The race between Ben Cline and and Jennifer Lewis is much lower stakes than the presidential race, but we can still glean important information about each candidate’s values and campaign strategies from their online presence.
Ben Cline has the more prevalent online presence of the two candidates. A simple Google search immediately produces his website, Twitter profile, wikipedia page, and recent news articles about him. His website is very clean-cut with lots of pictures of his family and him participating in community events. He also provides many opportunities to volunteer or intern for his campaign on his website. His Twitter and Facebook profiles are quite active, with him posting multiple times a week and sometimes multiple times a day. He has a few thousand followers on both Twitter and Facebook–pretty good for a local congressman–and he posts about current events, such as the MAGA bomber and Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, along with pictures in the community on the campaign trail. Finally, he makes sure to make his stance on hot-button issues quite clear by condemning sanctuary cities and proudly displaying his NRA membership on his website which plays to his conservative base.
I had to search a little harder to find Jennifer Lewis’s online profiles. Unfortunately, she has the same name as a well known actress, so her Google result doesn’t show up unless you specifically search “Jennifer Lewis for congress.” The first thing that comes up on the Google search is her website. Similar to Ben Cline’s website, Lewis’s site has lots of pictures of her family and community involvement. However, she has more videos and is more explicit in her values and policies. Lewis’s Twitter is also harder to find, and you must specifically search for it on Google. However, her Twitter is fairly similar to Cline’s; she posts multiple times a week, if not day. She also commented on current events such as the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, yet she, along with Cline, noticeably avoided the topic of gun control in their comments on the shooting. Both her Facebook and Twitter have thousands of followers like Cline’s. Finally, she also takes stances on issues that would appeal to her base: she maintains somewhat conservative views in terms of family and tax cuts etc. due to the rural part of her base, yet she also appeals to the liberal side in ways such as legalizing marijuana, lgbtq rights, and pro-immigration stance.
Overall, I believe that Ben Cline will win the election partly because we are in a conservative area and partly because his online presence is a bit more accessible. As we have discussed during class, pouring much of your campaign budget into your social media is a good idea. It worked for Trump, and we can see why; many adults get their news from social media now, and if a candidate’s social media is extremely accessible like Cline’s, then he or she is bound to gain a significant following.
