Before the 1976 election, "Nixon's successors attempted to restore the nation's lost faith in government" (as cited in Britten, and Mathless, 1998, p.46). Ford's efforts to tame inflation without plunging the economy into recession failed. Society needed a noble, honest, and decent man for the next president of the United States. So in the 1976 election, Gerald Ford ran for president against Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer from Georgia. Although unknown at first, Jimmy Carter became a tough competition to Ford with his commercials, his campaign, and his integrity. Carter had a strong symbolic position to run against "everybody's invisible opponent" that he was able to ride his white horse all the way to Washington. Jimmy Carter's commercial relays a message of political context, appeals to his set of audience, and effects society to vote for Carter for president.
             From the ground floor as a peanut farmer to a chance to run for president, Jimmy
             Carter was heading to the top floor of the empire state building with his happy political commercial. "With Carter's tie with the trilateral, he received the inside track for favorable media coverage with his commercial" (as cited in Shoup, 1980, internet). His commercial "Essence" starts off with the upbeat music symbolizing a happy, joyous man. The first second of the commercial shows Jimmy Carter shaking hands with ordinary people. Most politicians just show themselves as noble men before the election, but Carter was always a true noble man because the only dirt they found on him was the dirt under his finger nails due to farming. Another example of a key factor in his commercial is his slogan, "a leader for a change". The slogan gives Carter an opportunity to convince the people through media that he was not a rustic yahoo, but a man to be taken seriously. At this time, a change in leadership wa...