Fear mongering is the use of fear to leverage the opinions and actions of others towards some end. The object of fear is exaggerated; those the fear is directed toward are kept aware of it on a constant basis. Image File history File links Circle-question. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political campaign is an organized effort to influence the decision making process within a group. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for election campaigns. ... In the past, political campaigns were conducted using traditional methods of personal contact, such as television and radio media purchasing, print advertising and direct mail. ... Opposition research often referred to as oppo is the section of an election campaign designed to investigate the life and record of the opposing candidate. ... Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. ... In politics, campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Canvassing is the systematic contacting of individuals in a target group, often in a particular geographic area. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An election promise is a promise made to the public by a politician who is trying to win an election. ... Get out the vote, sometimes GOTV, is a term used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections. ... Lawn signs placed near a polling place in the U.S., July 2004 Lawn signs are one of the most visible features of an election campaign in some countries. ... Negative campaigning is trying to win an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent or of a policy rather than emphasizing ones own positive attributes or preferred policies. ... An attack ad in election terms is an advertisement whose message is meant as an attack against another candidate or political party. ... A push poll is a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll. ... A smear campaign or smear tactics are deliberate attempts by an individual or group to malign another individual or groups reputation. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Candidate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In United States and other democracies, political campaigns larger than a few individuals generally include a campaign manager whose role is to coordinate the campaigns operations. ... The staff of political campaigns are the people who get paid to formulate and implement the strategy needed to win an election. ... Fear is an emotional response to impending danger, that is tied to anxiety. ...

Uses in politics

Fear mongering is often used in a time of war as a political tactic to frighten citizens and influence their political views. Fear mongering in the United States surfaced most prominently during the era of McCarthyism, when the nation first faced the threat of nuclear attack. Since then politicians and pundits alike have realized and utilized the powerful influential impact that fear can have on American voters. Fear of terrorism born from the September 11th attacks has been arguably exploited by incumbent politicians to maintain their control of the house, senate, and executive branch of the government. A 1947 comic book published by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society warning of the dangers of a Communist takeover. ...

Campaign advertisements

Liberal Party of Australia poster promoting its credentials against a "foreign threat"

Probably the best example in American politics is the Daisy television commercial, a famous campaign television advertisement that begins with a little girl standing in a meadow with chirping birds, picking the petals of a daisy while counting each petal slowly. When she reaches "9", an ominous-sounding male voice is then heard counting down a missile launch, and as the girl's eyes turn toward something she sees in the sky, the camera zooms in until her pupil fills the screen, blacking it out. When the countdown reaches zero, the blackness is replaced by the flash and mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Daisy, sometimes known as Daisy Girl, or Peace Little Girl is perhaps the most famous campaign commercial of all time. ...

As the firestorm rages, a voice-over from Johnson states, "These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." Another voice-over then says, "Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home." [1]

The recently released television advertisement by the Republican National Committee quoting "Osama Bin Laden," echoes the exact same line as Johnson's ad: "These are the stakes!" Additionally, the only audio in the commercial is the sound of a ticking clock that gradually gets louder and louder, until the image of a bomb exploding appears.[2]

In popular culture

On August 16, 2006, during the check in between Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's comedy shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report respectively, Colbert introduced a fake report on fear mongering. [3] Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz on November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, satirist, actor, writer, author, and producer. ... This article is about Stephen Colbert, the actor. ... The Daily Show (currently The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning American satirical television program produced by and airing on Comedy Central. ... The Colbert Report (IPA: ) is an American satirical television program that airs from 11:30 p. ...

External links

These Are The Stakes Republican National Committee advertisement on YouTube

Golf Equipment Industry

Scare tactics which may or may not be political in nature abound everywhere. In the golf equipment industry Corporate OEM manufacturers spend millions of dollars on advertising every year. Custom clubs made from high quality "components", while being just as good (and in some cases better than OEM brands), are victimized by "fear mongering". ie. "the component industry is basically over" and associated nonsense.