In the right corner we have the ‘champion of change’ Barack Obama and in the left corner the ‘magnificent maverick’ John McCain, but who will win fight for the White House?

The candidate who can cultivate an image of their campaign that resonates most with the people has a big advantage, said professor of IPC, Joshua Atkinson, who teaches a course called Political Campaign Communication.

The image of a candidate is just as important, if not more, than their actual message, Atkinson said

‘Everyone wants to judge these things on substance,’ Atkinson said. ‘But at the end of the day, sadly actually, they’re not really about substance. They’re about image.’

During the debates the candidates will try to portray some kind of an image or a theme, which they do through body language and their answers, Atkinson said.

In their three debates, McCain and Obama were going for the same image of steady leadership, but they portrayed this image in different ways, Atkinson said.

‘[McCain] talks about his experience of steady leadership and he talks about how he has demonstrated this in the past,’ Atkinson said. ‘But Obama did this with his body language. He would stay in one spot on the stage and wouldn’t move around too much; he looked at the camera and did all those kinds of things.’

Obama’s technique seemed to work better, judging by post-debate snap polls, Atkinson said.

‘Usually Democrats say the Democrat won, Republicans say the Republican won and the undecided say it was a draw or tie,’ Atkinson said. ‘But a lot of the undecided said Obama won this.’

A big critique of McCain had to deal with his body language, Atkinson said.

Undecided voters would say things like, ‘McCain struck them as too erratic,’ Atkinson said.

Obama struck a chord with audiences and created an image that reminded Atkinson of how Ronald Reagan was able to come across as a cowboy in the 1980 debates, he said.

‘[Obama] was able to establish an image that resonated with audiences and a lot of that was through body language and not so much the things that he said,’ Atkinson said. ‘I think he did a very good job speaking, as did Sen. McCain, but Obama had much better control of his body language and that had a big impact on the debates.’

Graduate student Mike Vincent said image won’t be a factor in who he votes for, but it is a big factor in who will ultimately win.

‘I think image has a big thing to do with it,’ Vincent said. ‘That’s why no ugly candidate with a crooked nose will win.’

Junior Tommy Wiebell said he thinks image and policies are of equal importance because politicians can’t deliver on all their policy promises.

‘They promise so many things, but so many things have to go through Congress that they don’t have control of,’ Wiebell said. ‘So I think a good image of hard work can show people that they will get things done.’

Both candidates have branded their campaigns with words they want to stick with their image, Atkinson said. ‘It is McCain the maverick versus Obama’s change.’

‘[McCain] is a Republican and the mood in the country according to polls is that American’s are unhappy with Republicans,’ Atkinson said. ‘So I can’t be the traditional Republican I’m going to be a maverick, a reformer.’

‘We see [Obama] using the word ‘change’ over and over again,’ Atkinson said. ‘He has pounded it into our heads.’

Obama’s ability to outspend McCain gives him a distinct advantage, Atkinson said by getting his name out in television and Internet advertising to more people.

‘He is able to be in more places at one time than McCain is,’ Atkinson said.

Opensecrets.org, reports that Obama has raised around $600 million for his campaign, as opposed to the $360 million raised by McCain.

McCain has had to pull television ads in many states and is focusing his campaign on Pennsylvania, instead of some of the other swing states that Obama is running ads in, Atkinson said.

‘The advantage with the money is Obama really has eight paths to get to 270 electoral votes,’ Atkinson said. ‘McCain really only has one [Pennsylvania].’

McCain has a good chance to win swing states like Virginia, but he just can’t keep up with Obama’s advertising in the state, Atkinson said.

McCain is mainly focused on Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, which Atkinson said reminds him of John Kerry’s 2004 presidential run.

‘[McCain] is looking a lot like Kerry in 2004, where Bush was on the offensive and Kerry was fighting for just those three states,’ Atkinson said. ‘Kerry just said ‘we have to win two of these three states and that’s all we’re going to do.’ Bush was on the air in Wisconsin and Michigan, in places that Kerry was hoping to win.’