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Dog whistle Essay The win for republicans relied on two factors. They played in the areas they were the weakest and they targeted voters and groups of voters. This was known as the â€Å"dog whistle† implying that Bush’s speech was only heard by those targeted groups. They kept away for the conventional political indicators such as economy, jobs and health. â€Å"The Bush strategists found a new way to identify and communicate with potential supporters† (Morgan, 2005). By doing this it changed the established ideas of what elections are about and why individuals vote the way they do. John Kerry’s lead was only in indicators that usually determined winner or loser in western democracies. â€Å"Majorities, sometimes large majorities, favored abolishing offshore tax havens, reforming healthcare writing labor and environmental protections into trade accords, and protecting benefits levels and spending on education and health, while 45 per cent opposed Bush’s tax cuts for the rich† ( Morgan, 2005). All of the tax policies were supported in the Democratic Party. Republicans strategy was to play on the conservative voters hoping to draw them to the polls by appealing to their most basic values, fears and prejudices. They also plagued Kerry’s campaign with hints about his trustworthiness. â€Å"Research by the University of Wisconsin indicates the Republicans ran 101,000 advertisements attacking Kerry’s character, while up to 95 percent of Kerry’s ads were based on issues† ( Morgan, 2005). When looking at the reasons why 35 percent said it was because they didn’t trust him. Another 23 percent didn’t because of his stance on gay marriage and 18 percent because of the issue of abortion. The Republicans also relied on TargetPoint a republican firm that relied on every database that the republicans could get then; they cross referenced this to the buying power of the citizens. This would enable direct mail marketers, telephone volunteer and door to door campaigning. This type of marketing is effective and was seen all across America. I can’t count how many people I came across during that elections that would have some type of comment on how much they got in the mail or how many phone calls they received during this time. I don’t really want to call his issue â€Å"feel good† but rather conservative rationale mixed with fear that gave the vote towards the Republican side of the yard. Reference: Magleby, D. B. , O’Brien, D. , Light, P. , Peltason, J. W. , Cronin, T. E. (2006). Government by the People: National, State, and Local 21st. Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Morgan, S. ( March 18, 2005). It worked for Bush. New Statesman. 134(4736).