Cain: Is He America?

This year, some would the Republican Party has spent more time trying to whittle down the field of potential presidential nominees, rather than working to improve the economy. Whatever your political affiliation, one person has recently stepped out from the quagmire to become a social media darling.

Herman Cain, despite recent dips in the polls, remains a buzzworthy figure due to alleged sexual misconduct, unique plans to rebuild the nation and his use of social media.

In a presidential election, it is key to get your physical message out by any means necessary. Spurned by President Obama’s groundbreaking use of in the Internet and social media en route to his election in 2008, politicians gearing up for 2012, including Cain, are using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to its fullest extent.

Elements listed below have instilled ideas into the psyche of potential voters in an attempt to swell the social persona of Cain. But as you will see, some of the items meant to engrain the Cain message into the political culture and remain in the front of the electorate’s temporal mindset have opened the door for scrutiny, both philosophically and jokingly.

I AM AMERICA

In a video featuring Mark Block, Cain’s campaign chief of staff, he is seen smoking at the end with a music bumper underneath it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIhkZtadAt8). While the intended message may have been to say we are all Americans, no matter our looks, ideals and habits, the message missed key targets.

Comedians ran with the viral video – including Stephen Colbert on his show, The Colbert Report (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/400682/october-25-2011/herman-cain-s-campaign-ad). The message received further smearing by the daughters of another Republican nominee Jon Huntsman in a parody spoof (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/jon-huntsmans-daughters-parody-cain-smoking-ad/).

LIBYA: AGREE OR TO NOT AGREE

Cain has spent the better part of six months building a solid reputation of knowledge, and when he doesn’t know an answer, he has been upfront … until very recently.

When asked about his opinion on Obama’s policy in Libya, Cain found finding an answer very hard. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains on his show (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45298495#45298495).

THE BOTTOM LINE

Social media has made the world of political elections a new playground. Some believe social media will have more influence than television in this election. Jay Samit wrote in his blog (http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/social-media-make-break-2012-election-campaigns/228367/) that the target audience of political campaigns has changed, the influence of TV compared to the 1960s and 1970s is not as strong today despite a 24-hour news cycle, and the cost of ads on social media are cheaper than commercials on broadcast television.

Even spoofs of videos and comments by candidates like Cain get played over and over on television and the web without costing the campaign any more funds.

Samit explains, “Political messages within social media promise to engage users even more deeply than brand messages.” This means that Cain is getting publicity for his message, even when it is spoofed. The trend is that social media users will take the time to search for what Cain actually meant more than the average broadcast television watcher.

Will Cain become President? Maybe, maybe not. Is his use of social media intriguing, most certainly.