100 DAYS OF OBAMA
Sources:
Software:
http://www.obamaspeeches.com http://www.cnnpolitics.com
Word Counter http://www.supermagnus.com
ELECTION LIES AND PROMISES MADE BY BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA We can be skeptical of how sincere politicians really are, how much of what was promised has been put to one side or even forgotten. For one individual to earn the vote of the American people, they will have had to convince people to trust them.
Since Franklin D. Roosevelt became president of the United States in 1933, a newly elected president is often judged in a mere 100 days. Roosevelt within this time frame managed to pass 15 major bills and start a large scale economic programme to counter major recession. In recent history we have seen the inauguration of Barack Obama on the 20th January 2009. The media also try to weigh Obama’s progress by what he achieved within his first 100 days of presidency. In the two year campaign prior to his election, he made promises to deal with issues such as the Economy, Oil, Health and Education. Obama like every person in power, is judged by how well they keep their promises. Taking the words used in speeches Obama made in his first 100 days of presidency and 100 speeches during his campaign, the information was fed seperately into a word frequency calculator. This then displayed how many times each word was used. Using this data this concept-driven piece shows Obama and the difference in his priorities before and after he was elected. In this way the public can look at the success of Barack Obama in a new light and judge his true agenda for themselves.
TOP ISSUES RAISED BEFORE ELECTION
WAR
JOBS
TAX
EDUCATION
For Obama before the election, job creation has been a significant part of his campaign. When elected President we can see that with the task of dealing with recession, he stresses tax more than jobs. It also appears that he tries to deal with each issue more equally.
WAR
AFTER ELECTION
EDUCAT
ION
TAX
JOBS
REFERENCES MADE TO PEOPLE BEFORE ELECTION PERCENTAGE AFTER ELECTION PERCENTAGE
E L L E MICH N O T N CLI
SO AMA E L L E MICH
A M A OS
N O T CLIN
TOP ISSUES RAISED CM CAIN UB SH
UB SH N I A C MC
Obama mentions these people many times throughout his speeches. The more the President mentions the person’s name, the larger the circle is created. We can expect Obama to mention people such as John Mccain less once he is elected as he is no longer an opponent. It is also understandable that his wife Michelle Obama gets a lot more attention. What is interesting here is that after the election Obama actually talks about President Bush more, despite the fact that Bush is no longer President.
REFERENCES MADE TO COUNTRIES
I II E E A A A A A A A A D A N N H TA ERIC TIN RALI DES CHA CHIL CHIN CUB IOPI ANC MAL HAIT AWA INDI NESI IRA S I N H R A H N AM GE ST GL O F ATE ET HA IND AR AU BAN GU FG
A
M E L A A O Q U IA IA IN N N N N IRA SRAE JAPA KENY KORE ANO EXIC ISTA PER USS MAL SPA NGDO BAW TIO C I B A K R I E O M B L K S LE PA EE ED ZIM R T I O F UN BE
I L E E Y S A A A A A A A C K N A TA BANI ERIC ENI RALI LIVI WAN RAZI NAD CHIL CHIN PRU UBLI MAR ANC MAN HAIT S I B CA CY REP DEN FR GER AN AL AM ARM UST BO OTS A B GH H F A EC CZ
L ICE
D
AN
IA
IND
N
IRA
Y A Q U N N M IA IA ION IRA JAPA KENY ISTA PER RAB SYR URKE INDO T C K E T DK IA PA EL UD E R T A I E S T UN AF
America remains the most mentioned country by Obama in his speeches. As other events have developed in the world we can see a shift in attention from countries such as Israel to Pakistan. Pakistan is an area that has been said to be vital for America to maintain as an ally against Al-Qaeda especially as it borders Afghanistan. Obama came under scrutiny having set up covert operations to bomb of suspected terrorist hideouts from unmanned aircraft. At present a total of 30 attacks has killed 220 people. Perhaps the the relationship between the United Kingdom and America is becoming more prominent as it is discussed more when Obama is elected. Israel has been a large concern for Obama before being elected, afterwards he doesn’t mention the country at all. In comparison to other countries, Obama appears much less concerned with the Orient as Japan and China have also lost significant interest.
TONE OF VOICE IN SPEECHES
52% POSITIVE
54.8% POSITIVE
If we look at the tone of voice in the speeches of Obama we can see that he actually delivers a more positive speech after election. We can work this out by taking a tally of words such as “prosperity” that can be seen as being positive and contrasting negative words such as “despair”. Perhaps this can suggest that the President is more relaxed and has less need to create empathy.
48% NEGATIVE
45.2% NEGATIVE
FOREIGN POLICY BEFORE ELECTION AFTER ELECTION
WAR
In the War On Terror America has completely changed its view of war and troops already mobile in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama promised as part of his policy to change this as soon as he was elected and withdraw all troops as could be achieved. We can see that before and after his speeches there is a complete change in the amount of times “war” is mentioned as compared to “peace.”
PEACE
PEACE
WAR
The data revealed that for every 3 countries mentioned by Obama 1 is a country where a majority of over 85% of inhabitants worship Islam. This could suggest how much of American foreign relations have been occupied with Muslim countries. Perhaps this level of concern could even be termed oppression.
WAR ON TERROR
NUMBER OF TIMES “SAFETY” USED
85% 15%
On the 9th October 2009, President Obama received a Nobel peace prize not long after he announced he was sending 30,000 extra US soldiers to the war in Afghanistan. This example can demonstrate the controversial role of Obama as a peacekeeper.
NUMBER OF TIMES “DEFEND” USED
53% 47%
TERRORISM MILITARY FIGHT AFGHANISTAN IRAQ 10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
NUMBER OF TIMES WORD REPEATED
90
100
149 176
215
BEFORE ELECTION
TERRORISM MILITARY FIGHT AFGHANISTAN IRAQ 10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
149 176
215
AFTER ELECTION
It may come as surprise that Obama used the word “safety” much less after being elected, however he stresses the word “defend” the same before and after the election. Obama outlines a need to defend against terrorism, but it seems that the need for safety is subject to change. Although Obama maintains it is his policy to look after the servicemen and women, perhaps this may not be the case. It appears that Obama is pressing for a more peaceful future as war zones such as Iraq can be seen to be mentioned a lot less. Fighting is also not on the agenda and it can be said that it has been a complete turnaround in the number of times he stresses the need to fight. s elected a he was elected and withdraw all troops as could be achieved change in the amount of times “war” is mentioned as compared to “peace.”
FOSSIL FUELS
NUMBER OF TIMES FOSSIL FUEL MENTIONED
BEFORE ELECTION
RENEWABLE
GAS
AFTER ELECTION
OIL
OIL
BEFORE ELECTION
Obama announced that his policy was to start on a journey towards energy independence and make the country less dependant on foreign fuel sources. In doing so he aimed to create millions of jobs and in the process address the issues of global warming and dwindling fuel sources. The data collected shows that before election he talks about “fossil fuels� 36 times, after the election he only mentions the subject on 3 occaisons. Similarly he mentions oil much less after his election, this can lead us to believe that his intentions could be truthful in trying to reduce the carbon consumed in America. However the President can be seen to talk about gas and coal more than he mentions renewable energy despite that his policy to double the renewable sources over a three year period.
AFTER ELECTION
BEFORE ELECTION
Obama inherited a £1.3 trillion dollar deficit in light of a banking crisis and a worldwide economic crisis. Before the election we can see that he placed a high value on spending and reform and cutting costs for homeowners. When after he was elected the President set about passing several acts to try and combat the crisis. We can see that investment has been decreased and recession has become more of an issue than before. Obama highlights his own concerns for the economy and stated: ‘You know, when I first started this race, Iraq was a central issue, but the economy appeared on the surface to still be relatively strong. There were underlying problems that I was seeing with health care for families and our education system and college affordability and so forth, but obviously I didn’t anticipate the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.’
SION RECES
RECES
SION
INVES
INVES
TMEN T
$ $
TMEN T
ECONOMY
AFTER ELECTION
HEALTH
BEFORE ELECTION AFTER ELECTION
Obama set about creating reform for health insurance immediately. We can see that he extended the care for businesses and young people, making it easier for healthcare to be recieved. The results of this reform can be early to tell how effective this has been, however we can see that as healthcare has been a central issue to his campaign, he mentioned it a lot more when he was running for President and it is not mentioned as much afterwards. Perhaps then we can see that in running for President, Obama appears to address different concerns to the issues that he faces having becoming President. This study can only show how differently he assesses each issue and the change in his priorities. Over time we will be able to truly see how well the President can achieve what he promised.