Game Change - Jacob Greifer

1. Political vetting is an extremely important process to do before deciding on a candidate, or in the case of Game Change, picking someone to run as your vice president. As shown through this movie, not knowing enough about someone you invest in can be very costly. John McCain and his campaign picked Sarah Palin because of her image. She was a mother of five, with one kid being a soldier and another having Down Syndrome. For this reason, they thought she could reach a certain demographic of Americans and help them win the campaign. With her being Alaska's Governor, they trusted her political knowledge that ended up not being there at all.  Because they failed to politically vet, their campaign was deeply hurt and was a big reason to why they lost to Obama.

2. In the perfect world, politicians would win campaigns based on their careers and experience rather than their popularity. However, as this year has shown, that is not the case. This year's presidential campaign is a great example that people care more about the appearance of the candidate rather than their actual success or qualifications. Hillary Clinton has years of experience in office. She was by far the more qualified candidate. However, her popularity dropped because of her emails, and that was really all that mattered. Another example of this was when Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy ran for office. This was the first televised campaign, which greatly affected people's decisions. Kennedy had a much more appealing look to him, of someone that people would want to represent them and run their country. As important as political experience is, the fact of the matter is that people end up selecting the ones that give off a better charm.