Gary Johnson is the presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. His views are similar to the political view of Republican candidate Ron Paul. This image attracted my attention because of the media's central focus on the two "juggernaut" parties, Democrats and Republicans. The only way for Mr. Johnson to appear on a political debate is if he has 15% in the polls. However, how can a man from a "non-juggernaut" party ever break 15%? The only way for him to get this recognition would be more publicity from CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, etc. This image clearly exemplifies the main stream media baloney we see day in and day out. This political candidate is unrecognized by the American public because these news stations refuse to allow him equal time.
There has been valid evidence that 3rd party voting has declined throughout the end of the twentieth century. "The inability of third parties to attract more than a tiny fraction of the votes cast across oļ¬ces is noticeable even compared to other democracies with two dominant parties, such as the U.K"(columbia.edu, March 2005, pg. 2). This has to do with the news stations using their power to keep any 3rd party from breaking the political scene. In step two of Helmer's step by step analysis, she discusses that one of the basic questions for contextual analysis is "What is the subject of the image?". The subject of this particular image is how the established media is ignoring the 99% of Americans. This is why 3rd party voting has declined so dramatically.
However, some people believe that third party campaigns change the outcome of presidential elections. Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 and changed up the political game. "Perot’s 19% of the popular vote in 1992 was the highest of any third-party candidate since 1912, and the highest ever for a third party candidate who had not previously held a national elected office or whose party did not have significant representation in the U.S. Congress."(Lacy and Burden, February 2000, pg. 4). This image does not really include how 3rd party have broken the political scene. In step 8 of Helmer's anaylsis, she talks about how you should research the image. While researching, I discovered how 3rd political parties can occasionally attract a lot of voters. This critique has helped me understand how 3rd parties can be influential. On the other hand, it is still very difficult because of the established news stations.
This banner clearly states Mr Johnson's stance on the legalization of marijuana. According to Helmer's step 2, you must place this picture in context. It was clearly created by their campaign team to attract both liberal and conservative voters. The legalization of marijuana is typically a liberal point of view. The "Liberty" part of this banner represents how the central government should allow more freedom, such as lowering taxes on corporations and cutting unneeded programs. Those point of views are typically conservative. With "Legalize" and "Liberty" put together, it attracts the audience of many backgrounds.
Works Cited
Amendment 64: The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/s/regulate-marijuana-alcohol-act-2012
Lacy, Dean and Budren, Barry C (February 23, 2000). The Vote-Stealing and Turnout Effects of Third
Party Candidates in U.S. Presidential Elections, 1968-1996. Retrieved from
http://polmeth.wustl.edu/media/Paper/lacy00.pdf
Synder Jr, James M and Hirano, Shigeo (March, 2005). The Decline of Third Party Voting in the United
States. Retrieved from http://www.columbia.edu/~sh145/papers/third_party_decline.pdf
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