Persuasive Campaigning for GOP Candidates

This article, from Fox News, expresses the competition between basically all of the Republican candidates in the state of Iowa for the upcoming caucuses. This article shows that there is no big front runner for the state of Iowa, and that basically "'It's anybody's game right now.'" Because of this, each candidate is looking for a solid campaign strategy moving forward. Many Iowa voters are unsure about their support for these Republican candidates. It seems that is article is implying that for success in the state of Iowa that these candidates will need to put on a more persuasive campaign strategy. The article says that, "Fewer than 20 of Iowa's 76 Republican legislators have publicly declared their support for a candidate, and no single candidate has a clear edge among those who have picked sides." This implies that these voters seem to all be indifferent towards all of the candidates, probably because each candidate seems closely related to each other on policy. This is directly related to the Mueller 20.2 reading that expressed that with the use of purely informative campaigning, the median voter theorem would win out, which increases indifference in the voters for any candidate. According to Mueller, the persuasive strategy is an attempt by candidates to convince all voters that their position is best, and increase all votes for them. In Iowa, it seems that these candidates have sporadic support from some groups, but that this spread is almost evenly among supporters, preventing any candidate from really gaining mass support. It seems that Iowa is informed of each candidate's position, but now the battle looks like it will be for persuasion to the voters that their position is best. For example Romney is working to, "cast himself as the candidate with the strongest economic credentials." This looks as though he is putting on a more persuasive strategy by trying to show voters that his economic policy is the best. However, other than simply looking for a persuasive campaign, it seems Romney is also looking to clarify his individual positions on issues. The article says, "while he's stepping up his Iowa activity, he's also picking his spots." According to Mueller's model, simply choosing either informative or persuasive campaigning is not ideal, but that it is a mix of both. The probability that a voter will choose a particular candidate is based on the candidate's position, their opponents' position, their informative campaigning expenditures, their opponents' campaigning expenditures, their persuasive campaigning expenditures and their opponents' campaigning expenditures. Regardless, it looks as if these GOP candidates in Iowa need to seek a more persuasive campaign strategy, informing more of the undecided society that their position is best and that they are the "candidate who can defeat Democratic President Barack Obama next fall."