In case you've missed the news, the UK recently elected a new Prime Minister, sort of. In my political communication classes at Northwestern in the (ahem) 90s, I studied the "Americanization" of political campaigns globally. Interestingly, this was the first year that the UK held a televised leadership debate. It didn't go well for Gordon Brown; I think he'll go down in the annals of history the UK's "Nixon" when it comes to televised debates.
California held primary elections on Tuesday, and I was reminded of some of the more American-style campaign tactics. I received four different pre-recorded telemarketing calls telling me whether or not I should vote on this Prop or that one. Of course, I also received the requisite junk mail (in fact, I received some for the UK election, too, since mail is forwarded to me from my old address).
The political ads certainly kept local TV stations in the black, especially the $31 million spent by ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman in her bid for the Republican nomination for Governor. (She won.) The funniest ad had to be the one attacking Chris Kelly, candidate for Attorney General. "His only experience is designing the Facebook privacy policy condemned across the country." (He lost.) See 0:20 in the video below.
I guess the most surprising thing was the amount of information I received on the election. Is it any wonder that so few people turn out to vote, when the government sends out a 176-page "Voter Information Pamphlet and Sample Ballot"?
Honestly, who has the time to read that? I guess that's why Americans vote for the tallest candidate or the one that looks best on TV. If the UK starting electing the tallest candidate, it could be the last step in the Americanization of British politics. Oh wait, they already did, sort of.
Gordon Brown/David Cameron photo credit: BBC.co.uk
