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When and why did the era of modern campaign management begin?

The beginning of modern campaign management is difficult to exactly pinpoint.

However, the invention of TVs in the 1950s can be said to have ushered the era of modern

campaign management. In particular, the famous debate between incumbent President

Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy further emphasized the importance of TV. In this

debate, those watching on TV thought that Kennedy fared better while those who listened on

radio thought that it was Nixon. Thus, appearance has been perceived as a crucial component

of campaign and since then, campaigns have focused on selling the candidates to the

prospective voters. Physical appearance can be cited as a crucial factor in what is considered

to be the closest election in US history between George W. Bush and then Vice-President Al

Gore. Bush was projected as an accessible guy and less formal while Gore was perceived as

an elitist and formal person.

When did the era of pretesting public opinion to tailor candidate positions begin?

Pretesting public opinion started during the New Deal. Before, candidates would run

and present their plans of actions to the voters in the hope of receiving their support.

However, with the state of the economy in the 1930s and the strong support for the

administration of President Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, Republicans thought it would be

strategic to gauge the sentiment of the public first before crafting their own program of

action. The party employed polling firms to identify what areas in the Roosevelt governance
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did the American public were disappointed. Through this, the Republicans could bank on the

failure of the incumbent administration and package the party as a reform party.

What is the import, purpose, and consequence of individuate subjective appeals in

political messaging?

The purpose of appealing to the individual subjective needs and perspectives of the

voters is to ensure that voters will vote based on emotions rather than facts. Studies from the

fields of political science and psychology have long established that people have cognitive

short-cuts when making decisions, especially the political ones. This is borne out of the fact

that assessing the facts and platforms of candidates would be very consuming and that with

the propaganda campaigns of parties and candidates, facts would not be different from

opinion. So, when a voter learns that a candidate is a Democrat, he would thought of him as

in favour of universal healthcare, student loan condonation, and less restrictive immigration

policies. Individualizing the subjective needs of the voters would also allow a candidate to

win support even those most of his plans are against the political ideology of the voters.

People are risk-averse and if candidates can be certain about their plans, they would likely

obtain support. The consequence of this, however, is that the candidates would become

populist. Pursuing policies that appeal to the people even though the same are myopic would

be the norm and this is disadvantageous to the political system.

How do these subjective appeals undermine democracy and what role has the internet

and social media played in further weaponizing these appeals?

Subjective appeals undermine democracy because it diminishes popular sovereignty.

In a republican and limited democracy such as the United States, all government authority

emanates from the people. The people should be cautious and rational in delegating this

power in the form of electing to office those really competent for the position. With
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subjective appeals, the people become irrational and those elected to office are not

necessarily those who would pursue what is best for the country, but rather those who, aided

by marketing research and appeals, are able to exploit the vulnerability of the public. The

Internet and social media further exacerbates this problem of diluted popular sovereignty

because these platforms enable the easier dissemination of lies and negative advertising.