Demo-what-ics?!

Demographics! Have you ever wondered what they really are? As defined by Kelly Co. Marketing, demographics are, "common characteristics used for population or audience segmentation, such as age, gender, household income, etc." They are commonly used for TV shows, internet ads, but more importantly, presidential campaigning.

Presidential campaigns are a medium to translate certain aspects of each candidate's policies to certain groups of people, certain demographics. You wouldn't want to campaign a policy on illegal immigration crackdown to a border-town Latino community, you'd want to campaign that to a border-town white community who are worried about their massive loss of jobs due to the immigrants taking them.

Speaking of Latino demographics, on a website for KTAR, a radio station local to Phoenix, AZ, there is an article about how the Latino communities in Phoenix are riled up about the presidential election coming this November. Latinos represent 9 percent of registered voters in the United States, and in another article (courtesy of the Associated Press), there is a quote that clearly states the importance of generating a campaign in accordance to certain demographics. "In [swing states] where the election is very close, they make all the difference in the world." This shows just how much elections can depend on one group of people.