Lamar Alexander ran for senator in 2008 for the state of Tennessee.

He had much experience in this area, as he had been the Tennessee senator in 2002, the gubernatorial candidate three times, and won. He was also the Secretary of Education for the United States in 1991-93.

So he ran for the Republicans, against Bob Tuke for the Democrats and various independent parties. And as most, made a campaign video…

Within the campaign video, you see various different sections. At first, whilst Lamar Alexander is playing the piano, you hear a different man speak about how America’s best times are all behind them. He mentions healthcare, the war and terrorism and immigration, and the loss of confidence in the American government. But then Lamar comes in and disagrees. Not with the fact that these things are happening, but that America is a great place to live and to keep that hope in the Tennessee public.

He is not wearing a suit, but a casual shirt, which shows he is “a man of the people”. He’s showing that he is not always a business man and will have the same worries that everyone else will have in his state.

He then goes onto to talk about a man called Alex Haley, a grandson of slaves who became one of most beloved African-American authors of their time. He succeed in life, because of one quote; which Lamar Alexander still stands for today.

“Find the good & praise it”

Coming off of the topic of Alex Haley, Lamar begins to list all of the things that are good with America, the community, and the family that people have. It shows that in every aspect of life in Tennessee, there are some very good people and thoughts.

That’s not saying that they are not areas that need improving, and Lamar Alexander talks about these. The government does not always work together, the war is not won, the healthcare is not the best and illegal immigrations are still a major problem in America’s life. And these are problems that the public may have, definitely the healthcare situation as that affects them immediately.

The next section is about when Lamar was starting out as senator and the democrat candidate was asked about his thoughts on the new, young opposition. And his reply was that he would help him, because if he succeeds, the state will succeed. I think, that is the message that Lamar is trying to put across for him. He will do the best for the state, not what is best for him and his career.

He believes that no matter hard life is, the best days are not behind America.

The end section changes into a different speaker, commenting on Lamar Alexander’s life. His past was mentioned, and if anyone thought that he was too old to become a senator again, they talked about his 14,000 feet travel up Mount Kilimanjaro for his 65^th birthday.

He believes in “person over politics”.

The last 30 seconds or so are Lamar Alexander telling the Tennessee public that all America needs is some good old common sense and to “find the good & praise it”.

The style of the video is very homely and relaxed. It really portrays him as a person you could talk to easily and is very much one of the community. The way he’s dressed, the voice he uses and the settings he used are very normal.

The music is linked with the piece he is talking about and changes for the appropriate areas.

With this video and the rest of this campaigning, he was able to win over every county in the state of Tennessee, except one. (The exception being the majority-black county of Haywood in west Tennessee.)

He took 65% of the votes, whilst Bob Tuke took 32%.