Evaluating Patterson's View on Truth in Political Campaigns

This assignment provides an analysis of truth in political campaigns based on Patterson's arguments. It addresses the fulfillment of campaign promises by politicians, the media's role in conveying positive and negative news, and the press's perception of American presidents. The assignment discusses how the press, acting as a miscast institution, can influence voters and distort the perception of candidates. It also highlights the continued relevance of Patterson's arguments in contemporary elections, particularly concerning the role of partisan media. The analysis references the 2016 presidential election and the media's coverage of Donald Trump, emphasizing the impact of media on shaping public opinion and influencing electoral outcomes. This paper uses Patterson's book 'Out of Order' and a Washington Post article to support its claims.

Running head: TRUTH ABOUT POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
TRUTH ABOUT POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
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TRUTH ABOUT POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
Answer to question 1:
On fulfilling the campaign promises by the politicians, Patterson states that they fail a
few times because of the lies they tell during those campaigns. He provides the instance of a
candidate lying about taking an action during the campaign, which he has no intention to fulfill
and deceives voters into believing the lie and votes the candidate. However, he asserts that
presidential candidates mostly succeed in fulfilling their promises as they act on those promises
after being elected. He states, “Candidates are not empty vessels who have no ideas about policy
and no plans about what to do with the political power” (Patterson). He states that candidates
profit more from keeping their promises rather than breaking those.
Answer to question 2:
In Patterson’s views, the press or the media conveys more negative news than it conveys
positive news to the voters. He gives evidence of this in the 1992 presidential election when the
press focused only the promises that Clinton broke after his election. In addition, the press
highlighted the instances where Clinton had to consult with the Congress. On the contrary,
Clinton had kept several promises he made during the campaign, which included sending
humanitarian relief to Bosnia, increase in tax for upper-income payers and so on. The press
hardly conveyed these fulfilled promises to the voters.
Answer to question 3:
Patterson argues that the press is indulged more into conveying ‘bad news’ about the
presidential candidates than it has in conveying ‘good news’. He states that the press has an
unfair perception of the American presidents as it compares them to the European prime
ministers who, in contrast to the US presidents, have ready-made majority of the legislative to

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TRUTH ABOUT POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
operate. Further, Patterson says that the press conveys wrong message about the presidential
candidates showing that they make promises only to win votes. Although the press is true in the
first part, but they are wrong is asserting that the candidates do not fulfill those promises. This
trend influences the voters to see only those things that the candidates have not done but not
those that they have done.
Answer to question 4:
The fact that America is the only country in the world where presidential elections and
campaigns are done through the media, places the press in a vulnerable position. When Patterson
refers to the press as a miscast institution, he means that it is expected to do works that do not
fall under its norms. “The problem arises when the press is expected to perform the job of
political institutions as well” (Patterson). When the press is given the job of screening the
prospective candidates for different parties by influencing the perception of the voters, its
traditional role becomes void. The result is that the voters never receive an impartial and
unbiased report of the candidates and this is harmful for a democracy.
Answer to question 5:
Patterson wrote the book in the 1990s and it has been more than two decades but his
arguments are still relevant. In fact, the partisan media’s role in presidential nominations has
increased by multiple especially when one considers the emergence of other forms of media. The
2016 presidential elections stand as proof to the partisan media’s role in nominating Donald J
Trump as the Republican candidate for president (Washingtonpost.com). The media coverage
was unprecedented when it came to covering Trump.

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Works cited:
Patterson, Thomas E. Out of Order: An incisive and boldly original critique of the news media's
domination of Ameri. Vintage, 2011.
Washingtonpost.com. "A Deep Dive Into The News Media’S Role In The Rise Of Donald J.
Trump". The Washington Post, 2018,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/06/24/a-deep-dive-into-the-news-
medias-role-in-the-rise-of-donald-j-trump/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4420fe597660. Accessed
9 Dec 2018.