Political Brand Comparison

This infographic is showing what brands members of the Democratic and Republican parties prefer and their impressions of the brand. The infographic is using comparison and contrast, but instead of showing how their members prefer different brands, as one would assume, it shows how they seem to mostly prefer the same brands.  Of the top ten brands for each party, seven appear on both lists.

The infographic also uses balance in two ways, the first balance is visual, the highest rated companies are listed on top, and the 10th highest rated on bottom.  The second is that both sides, Democrat and Republican, are represented, it wouldn't make much of an impact if only one side was shown.

Romnesia

The text uses a new term to associate Mitt Romney with having a selective memory of past events, and implies that he will do anything to make himself look better in front of the voting public, even if that means not admitting to mistakes made in the past.  The picture is very unflattering, it looks like it was taken mid-speech on a cold, windy day.

The purpose of this picture is clearly to make Romney look awkward, unkempt, surprised, and unprepared.  The use of the word Romnesia might be an attempt to create a new term for describing Romney's campaign strategy and undermine anything he says in the future by implying that it might not be true.  It also implies that either he has a bad memory, or worse he is hiding something.

Political Commonplaces

This is a good example of how campaigns use commonplaces to help voters identify with them  The picture is of Mitt Romney standing in front of what can be assumed to be the capital building and the commonplaces in this picture are the words: victory, stronger, plan, and middle class, and the visual commonplace of the American flag.  The audience is clearly the middle class, the graphic on the podium even says it.  The graphic also implies that his plan will help the middle class and that he already has it worked out.

The fact that Romney is not wearing a tie, suggests that his is not different, or in another social class, as the people in the audience, who are assumed to be mostly middle class.  The rolled up sleeves suggests that he is ready to get to work for the people.