Agenda Setting and Stereotyping

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/02/12/pm.1.backhanded.politics.cnn?iref=allsearch

This video is centered around the president's recent push for bipartisanship in order to get things accomplished. There are numerous clips of Obama speaking about Democrats in his administration working together with Republicans. The video then goes on to talk about how his approval rating has been plummeting, which leads one to believe that Obama is so prominently promoting bipartisanship not only for progress, but also perhaps to gain support from Republicans, Independents, or even Democrats that have lost faith. It then talks about how Obama said the only way to move forward with healthcare reform is to throw out the bill that the Democrats wrote and work on one together, which also supports the previous statement. This would be an example of agenda setting both in the sense that he is promoting bipartisanship to boost his approval rating, and that he is addressing the controversy over the healthcare bill, which is already a very prominent issue. The video also has examples of gender stereotyping. It covers Michelle Obama's plan to cut back on childhood obesity, which is a healthcare issue. Healthcare issues are commonly associated with females which is a type of gender stereotyping.

-Carl Ballard