Ad Context 

The Michael Steele for Senate campaign first aired the 30 second ad, "Hope into Action" on October 25, 2006 ; almost two weeks before the November 7th elections. Aired statewide; "Hope into Action" diverges from other Steele ads, which feature him against a blue background, speaking directly to the camera about his merits and the strategies of his opponent. This on the other hand, is a biographical ad, which gives audiences deeper insights into Michael Steele's personal history. Biographical ads such as this one serve to construct the candidate's image. The image, in this case, is "…the projection of personal qualities or traits that shape impressions of character…" by allowing viewers to see and "get to know" candidates, in settings such as their homes or the neighborhoods of their youth (Morreale, 1993, 2). Biographical ads also work to reassure viewers that candidates possess characteristics such as honesty, a diligent work ethic, a love of traditional family values, and a respect for government, which are expected of an archetypal political hero .(See also the PARC analysis of "Dolores Avenue " http://www.umdparc.org/EhrlichAnalysisDoloresAvenue.htm for more on biographical ads).

Gendered and racialised subtexts in "Hope into Action" work to lend legitimacy to Michael Steele's background and his future as a legitimate leader in Maryland. Because candidates are often defined in terms of the aforementioned archetypes, and because African Americans are often stigmatized in ways that oppose these archetypes, "Hope into Action" constructs Michael Steele against racialised stereotypes of Black poor and working class urbanites in the United States . Through an extended discussion about his mother, Maebell Turner, Steele reassures viewers that he not only was raised with appropriate moral values akin to his colleagues, but also that he enjoys his proper place as a man with authority in a family that can eventually stand in for the family of Maryland.

Race and Gender Matters in "Hope into Action" 

"Hope into Action" begins with distant shot of the tops of green trees and brightly colored row houses followed by a tight shot of a bright green sign for Varnum Street, NW in Washington , D.C. As the ad continues, Lt. Governor Steele is shown in a dark blue suit, walking down a pleasant block that can be read as suburban, as indicated by a white picket fence on the right of the viewers' screens. Inspirational piano music underlies a voiceover of Michael Steele declaring, "I'm from here." The "here" to which he is referring is Washington, D.C. but Maryland and " America " is implied. In effect, this declaration begins the process of constructing Michael Steele's legitimacy as a citizen. African Americans have historically occupied a tense and contradictory relationship with the ideal of American citizenship. Citizenship in this country has implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, privileged a white citizenry (Lopez, 1996). By locating himself as being "from here" and situating himself on a street that can be read as both urban and suburban, "Hope into Action" frames him as an archetypal American.

Campaign ads and films usually highlight a candidate's origins in a small town or on a farm. The referent of the small town serves to associate the candidate with "…the ideal symbol of the common man: a hardworking, honest, level-headed, independent individual" (Morreale, 1993, 10). Steele cannot access this archetype because of his racialised identity as an African American male exempts him from the "common man" agrarian image. Similarly, because he is from urban NW Washington, D.C., he does not have the cache of being from a simpler time or place. Rather, his origins in an urban area, combined with his race, require that he disprove myths associated with Black males from urban environments.

"Hope into Action" seeks to distance Steele from negative stereotypes of African Americans. Through description of his mother and her work, Steele constructs himself as a respectable, hardworking candidate. Scholars have argued that women are the disseminators of culture, passing on social, cultural, and ethical mores (Yuval-Davis, 1997). Thus, while the ad may not be about him, specifically, the statements that he makes about his mother directly implicate him and are perhaps more useful in helping viewers get to know Lt. Governor Steele.

In "Hope into Action," Lt. Governor Steele speaks to his family's economic adversity by stating that his mother earned minimum wage, but quickly adds that his mother (and consequently, he) did not benefit from "government protection." This statement suggests, thus, that she did not receive welfare or state sponsored aid. This distancing is necessary because of the negative stereotype of Black mothers as welfare recipients that has circulated in U.S. political discourse for decades. Roberts explains that this stereotype began in the 1950s when "Black mothers' inclusion in welfare programs once reserved for white women soon became stigmatized as dependency and proof of Black people's lack of work ethic and social depravity" (Roberts, 1997, 207). This stereotype escalated in the 1980s and 1990s. He distances his mother and himself from the stigma of welfare dependency further by stressing that she "worked" for 45 years in a laundromat. This ad tells viewers that Lt. Governor Steele neither comes from, nor supports ideologies that contribute to the maintenance of a welfare system.

The end of "Hope into Action" helps viewers establish that Lt. Governor Steele is an appropriately masculine archetype. Throughout the ad, Lt. Governor Steele speaks to private issues, such as the economic hardships he and his mother faced as well as the inspiration he received from her. This personal disclosure is usually thought of as a feminized style of communication (Parry-Giles and Parry-Giles, 2002). This style is effective in giving viewers the sense that they are getting to know candidates on an interpersonal level. However, electoral politics in the United States rely on masculine leaders' ability to "…demonstrate their inherent masculinity through appeals to existing and constraining sexist stereotypes" (Parry-Giles and Parry-Giles, 2002, 25). This is achieved in "Hope into Action" by juxtaposing Michael Steele with his mother in the final frames of the advertisement. Lt. Governor Steele is framed as walking up Varnum Street , toward the camera. He spends the bulk of the ad attesting to his mother's accomplishments and strengths. While she is not described as domineering, Maebell Truner is depicted as a strong woman. Lt. Governor Steele walks onto a porch as his mother opens the door to greet him. They are tightly framed in the shot, standing close together. He towers over his mother in the ad. While the audience is familiar with her strength of character, Steele's dominance as a masculine leader is demonstrated by his physical dominance over her diminutive frame. Maebell Turner appears in the commercial dressed conservatively, but not in a suit or other markers of masculinised power. At the end of the ad, viewers may come to the conclusion that Lt. Governor Steele has arrived to take his mother out to lunch. No other men appear in the ad, nor are any other men directly referred to in the ad. This allows the viewer to come away from "Hope into Action" with the association of Michael Steele with a professional masculine ideal who balances his own physical dominance over women / his mother with respect and appreciation for her maternal and feminized support of him. 

Aural and Visual Strategies in "Hope Into Action"

Mid-tempo, inspirational piano music provides the soundtrack for "Hope Into Action." Distinct "tings" punctuate key statements made by Lt. Governor Steele. For example, such a ting is heard after he says, "…but she never complained." This cues listeners to what should be remembered in the ad, in effect italicizing the preceding statement (Altman, 1996, 46).

Lt. Governor Steele speaks directly to the camera for the majority of the ad. He is shown walking, as if to signal his personal dynamism and determination. He approaches the camera, who stands in place of the viewer. The initial long shots provide an almost full, albeit distant view of Michael Steele. As he gets closer to the still camera/viewer, only his torso and face occupy the center of the frame. This camera work evokes a feeling for viewers that they are getting closer to Michael Steele. The combination of Steele's approach to the camera, the close up shot that elicits a sense of physical intimacy with the viewer coinciding with his utterance, "she empowered us to turn hope into action," and the crescendo of the music create a moment in the ad where the viewer feels close to and identified with Lt. Governor Steele on a personal level. However, the placement of the camera at an angle that looks upward to Lt. Governor Steele serves to remind viewers that he is to be "looked up to" practically and symbolically.

Michael Steele for Maryland : http://www.steeleformaryland.com. 

Altman, Rick. (1986). "Television / Sound" in Tania Modeleski, ed. Studies in Entertainment: Critical Approaches To Mass Culture." Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

Roberts, Dorothy. (1997). Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. New York: Vintage Books.

López, Ian F. Haney. (1996). White By Law: The Legal Construction of Race. New York: New York University Press.

Morreale, Joanne. (1993). The Presidential Campaign Film: A Critical History. Westport: Praeger.

Parry-Giles, Shawn J. and Parry-Giles, Trevor. (2002). Constructing Clinton : Hyperreality & Presidential Image-Making in Postmodern Politics. New York: Lang Publishing, Inc.

Meyrowitz, Joshua. (1978). "Television and Interpersonal Behavior: Codes of Perception and Response" in Gumpert, Gary and Robert Cathcart, eds. Intermedia: Interpersonal Communication in a Media World. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Yuval- Davis, Nira. (1997). Gender and Nation. London: Sage.