Wondering how to tell whether someone’s a Republican or Democrat, what the Medicare reform means for America, which comic book character best represents each political party, or who social media is predicting as the victor of the 2012 Presidential Campaign? You can easily find these answers, and much more about the 2012 campaign, through hundreds of infographics that are visually illustrating the hottest topics in this year’s election.

With new media strategies shaping the 2012 campaign, infographics are starting to emerge as a popular visual campaign tool. Since infographics garner 30 to 40 times more views than plain ole text, these visual shorthands are representing newsworthy events, graphs, statistical data and political concepts surrounding the election.

So why are infographics gaining popularity in the 2012 Presidential Campaign? With the increasing trend of focusing campaign efforts online, it’s becoming more and more difficult for candidates to effectively communicate their message without getting lost in cyberspace. Candidates and reporters alike are realizing their content needs to be eye-catching and easy to understand. Their messages must be presented in a manner that will out shine competitors.  However, there’s a challenge in making their material unique and attractive, and that’s where infographics are stepping up the game. See how Mitt Romney and Barack Obama‘s Campaigns are both using infographics as a secret weapon to undermine one another’s platforms.

So why should infographics play a larger role in future campaigns? Infographics are engaging readers on a far deeper level than text alone through mental stimulation, not only with intriguing facts, but also eye-catching images. We know that 83% of all learning is visual, 93% of communication is non-verbal, the brain process images 60,000 times faster than text alone and that political topics such as federal spending, national security and health care can quite frankly be boring and difficult to understand. Infographics simplify information that is unwieldy in text form, making it easier to understand by highlighting the most important data and answering all of your questions on one page.  There’s no need to break your brains mining through pages of statistical data and political jargon; you’ll get the idea in one simple glance.

Looking for more information on the 2012 Presidential Campaign? Check out these memorable infographics highlighting the election’s trending topics.