How To Manipulate Fear In A Political Campaign

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As proven through historical events, mankind is considerably susceptible to anything that may provoke high levels of fear and distress, and whenever society is in this state of fear, it is surprisingly easy to manipulate them. At the height of the Cold War, the election of 1964 was underway. As American society approached their voting booths, a frightening ad crossed voters’ minds and soon became the reason for Lyndon B. Johnson’s extraordinary landslide against his presidential rival, Barry Goldwater. Winning with 486 electoral votes to Goldwater’s 52, Johnson became the president of the United States. With Lyndon B. Johnson’s advertisement airing on television only one time, it represented Goldwater’s intentions of a nuclear war, which was depicted in the terrifying “Daisy …show more content…
Manipulation through fear-provoking tactics is remarkably effective in persuading voters to stand by certain political standpoints. Utilizing fear within a political campaign is highly controversial by how it usually downgrades the other side of the political rivalry, yet it serves very effectively by how it isolates the negative qualities of the other candidate and how it creates a fearful tone. For example, in the “Daisy Girl” ad, the ad depicts a sweet, innocent girl counting flower petals. Suddenly, a dark, voice counts backwards from ten, the camera zooms into the girl’s pupil, and an enormous- nuclear bomb is shown being activated. As the ad begins, the viewer most likely develops a feeling of awe by how the innocent girl counts her numbers in a childish way to promote childlike appeal. Yet, when the enormous bomb is activated, the reader is most likely terrified and confused as to what occurred. Although the ad is terrifying to

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