As the Canadian federal election is around the corner, life stories of the candidates have become powerful campaign tools to persuade voters to cast their ballot for them. To find out the how exactly do these stories mobilize voters, it is important to examine candidate’s biography note on their party web page and analyze their features.
Candidates’ biographies are written to appeal to Canadian voters, especially those who are sitting on the fence that life stories can help them make up their minds. First and foremost, branding is the most significant effect pre-election life narratives have on voters. As Tom Mulcair said, “My family story is that of millions of Canadians.” Superior as they seem, they are ordinary people after all. They go through similar life journey like most Canadians. Thus, their life narratives give voters a peek at their interest, family and work life, and show them the person behind politician which make the candidates more approachable. This kind of relatability form a greater sense of familiarity among voters and make they feel more represented if a candidate who is just like them is elected. By branding them as “ordinary”, candidates can gain voters’ support efficiently.
Digging deeper into the content, different materials they choose to focus on contribute to setting them up into a desirable Canadian Prime Minister. One particular way is to document their feat. For example, Elizabeth May shows an impressive array of environmental programs and political work she has participated to demonstrate how devoted and able she is. In addition, candidates can emphasis on their different roles to build up positive images. In Justin Trudeau and Mulcair’s biography, they talk about their experiences of being a father, an advocate and a leader, which render their capability of shouldering multiple responsibilities and living up to various role expectations. They also show how those roles equip them to be Canada’s next Prime Minister. For instance, as a father, they exhibit their care for the vulnerable groups and their eager to create a better future for the next generation. Furthermore, these biographies which bypass mass media allow candidates to speak directly to voters, as well as defending themselves against critique. Trudeau harnessing half of his biography to illustrate his short but plentiful political career to refute the criticism on him for being inexperienced is a case in point.
Different from the other candidates, existing Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a relatively less appealing and detailed biography on his website. Instead of his life story, a large proportion of his biography reports his achievements during his term of office with only a snapshot of his background at the end. Having been governing Canada for twelve years, Harper is a household name that further information about him is unnecessary. This distinction draws attention to how life narratives address audience. While votes wants to know more about the political career of other candidates to predict his or her future performance and capability to govern, knowing Harper’s past achievements solely will be enough to access whether he should be re-elected or not.
When I delve into smaller perspective of the biography, I found that precise and specific words choice molding the image of the candidate as well. In Mulcair’s biography, the most frequent word is “work”, which appears six times; whereas in Trudeau’s, “new” and “different” repeat throughout the page. Different messages are conveyed: Trudeau aspires to bring new insight to Canada, while Mulcair believes he can lead Canada with his industrial personality that drives him to work his way up to a competent candidate. All these trivial, yet power words add up to shape each candidate into a kind of capable leader upon whom Canadian future can rests.
Undeniably, life narratives have become mighty political strategy. Through careful choice of tone, materials and words, votes can possibly be swayed by the biography of a candidate when they go to the polls.
