Posits a strategy of resistance to the influence of attack messages in political campaigns. Finds that political campaign messages can be designed to inoculate supporters of candidates against subsequent attack messages of opposing candidates. (MS)

Investigates national media attention to Democratic and Republican women congressional candidates in 1990 and 1992. Finds media attention related to whether the candidates are running for the Senate or House, incumbency, and state population. Shows that party is a statistically significant factor associated with media attention, and that ethnic…

Examines whether presidential candidates who use informational briefing books when preparing for debates actually improve their debating effectiveness. Finds that higher rates of factual evidence are associated with "losing" a debate. Argues that this association arises from three common mistakes candidates make when using evidence.…

Scholars can learn much from analyzing discourse within a statewide political debate. A study used W. R. Fisher's theory of narrative rationality to analyze the first intra-party debate (April 16, 1990) between Republican candidates for Governor of Arkansas, Sheffield Nelson and Tommy Robinson, to ascertain the narrative rationality employed by…

The 1988 vice presidential campaign became a quagmire for Dan Quayle and the National Republican Party. To regain their footing and rehabilitate Quayle, the Republicans adopted two classic strategies for coping (often studied in the academy): rhetorical apologia and minimal exposure. During the campaign, an accusation was made that Quayle used his…

To investigate the temporally ordered process in image and issue learning as it affects the voting decision, a study conducted a secondary analysis of panel survey data from Wisconsin during the 1976 presidential elections. The study hypothesized that, because of the difficulty in understanding complex issues, voters rely on image evaluations for…

Examines voters' evaluative structures used in making decisions about political candidates, specifically regarding election level and candidates' incumbent-challenger status. Concludes that incumbent positioning affects perceptual criteria formation for candidates. Reports that voting behavior predictions can be made when candidate idiosyncracies…

Contributes to scholarship on rhetorical criticism, political science, and feminism by examining one aspect of the 1992 campaign year known as the "Year of the Woman." Discusses how the mass-mediated discursive formation positioned five female Senate candidates outside of perceived mainstream cultural beliefs. Investigates ways the…

Analyzes concession speeches by defeated presidential candidates from 1952 to 1992 to show consistent patterns of strategy, style, and content. Explains that the candidate's dilemma is resolved in the concession speech by an elaborate periphrasis that converts the combative energy of defeat into metaphors of sport, chivalry, and epic quest. (TB)

Explores communication strategies and styles used in television advertising by female U.S. Senate candidates for the 1986 elections. Finds that they focused on issues and stayed away from negative advertising in their ads, tending to highlight their competency as political officials and their past accomplishments. (SR)

A rhetorical analysis of the 1984 vice-presidential debate between George Bush and Geraldine Ferraro was conducted to determine argumentation tactics, argumentation flaws, reasoning strategies, and other rhetorical characteristics. The results indicated that the format of the debate allowed for little actual direct confrontation between…

Explores the negative popular reaction to the 1988 Presidential Debates. Examines how these events function as ritualistic enactments of the <public trust>, thus providing a rhetorical legitimacy for the electoral process in a system dedicated to <popular sovereignty>. Suggests how the 1988 debates failed to satisfy that function. (MM)

Finds that reasonably accurate predictions of election results can be made based on selected phonetic features in candidates' names. Discusses the emotive effect of speech sounds, distinguishes them from other types of meaning, surveys previous types of studies, describes the development of the author's analytical model and its attributes, and…

Describes the results of a study intended to test a specific hypothesis and a research question related to the theoretical development of the candidate image construct in political communication. Tests the long-standing assumption that there is a dichotomy between candidate issue positions and candidate persona impressions ("images").…

Drawing from political science, sociology, and communication literature, this paper provides a review of research dealing with political candidate image to show the various ways this concept has been treated by scholars. The paper begins with an examination of the rationales offered by researchers for the study of image, then addresses the…