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Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 Presidential Primary Tv Spots, William L. Benoit, Leslie Rill
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 Presidential Primary Tv Spots, William L. Benoit, Leslie Rill
Speaker & Gavel
The 2008 presidential campaign was unusual for a number of reasons. For the first time since 1952, neither the President nor the Vice President contended for the Oval Office. This meant highly contested primaries in both major political parties. As the Democratic primary ground toward the end, the leading candidates were an African-American–Barack Obama–and a woman–Hillary Clinton. More money was raised and spent on the primary campaign than ever before. This means that the campaign messages in this election deserve scholarly attention. This study applies Benoit’s Functional Theory and Petrocik’s Issue Ownership Theory to primary campaign ads from both major …
When Water Works: A Case Study Of Campaign Tears And The 2008 Presidential Election, Ryan Neville-Shepard
When Water Works: A Case Study Of Campaign Tears And The 2008 Presidential Election, Ryan Neville-Shepard
Speaker & Gavel
Since the fall of Senator Ed Muskie in the 1972 Democratic primary there has been an unwritten rule that political candidates should avoid crying. However, four presidential candidates cried in ten separate incidents during the 2008 election cycle, with only three episodes receiving negative attention. Addressing this inconsistency in the “Muskie rule,” in this essay I argue the effect of crying on a political candidate’s image is not well understood. As such, this essay develops and applies a framework for comprehending when crying will likely trigger a public relations crisis, and when it might actually benefit a candidate.
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 General Election Presidential Tv Spots, William L. Benoit, Mark Glantz
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 General Election Presidential Tv Spots, William L. Benoit, Mark Glantz
Speaker & Gavel
This study performed content analysis on the general election TV spots from Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign. There was no significant difference in function by incumbency, which is not surprising given that neither major party candidates was the sitting president or vice president. Unlike ads from previous years, these ads contained more attacks (65%) than acclaims (34%; and like earlier campaigns few defenses: 1%). These ads stressed policy (58%) more than character (42%). The Democratic candidate, as in previous elections, discussed policy more, and character less, than the Republican candidate. Both …
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 And 2012 Presidential Candidacy Announcement Speeches, William L. Benoit, Mark Glantz
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 And 2012 Presidential Candidacy Announcement Speeches, William L. Benoit, Mark Glantz
Speaker & Gavel
This study investigates messages in the surfacing phase of the presidential campaign, through a content analysis of presidential candidacy announcement speeches from the 2008 and 2012 elections. This study applied the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to nine Democratic announcement speeches from 2008, 11 Republican announcement addresses from 2008, and 12 Republican announcement speeches from 2012. This work extends previous research on announcement speeches from 1960-2004 (Benoit, Henson, Whalen, & Pier, 2007). Overall, announcements from 2008 and 2012 used acclaims (75%) more than attacks (25%) or defenses (0.5%). The same announcements discussed policy more than character (58% to 42%); …
Newspaper Coverage Of The 2008 General Election Presidential Campaigns, William L. Benoit, Jayne R. Goode, Mark Glantz
Newspaper Coverage Of The 2008 General Election Presidential Campaigns, William L. Benoit, Jayne R. Goode, Mark Glantz
Speaker & Gavel
News coverage of political campaigns is very important to the political campaign process. Some voters pay little attention to debates or other sources of information about the candidates and their policies. The news is one important source of this information. Newspapers can also supplement and reinforce the information possessed by voters who do attend to campaign messages. This study content analyzed news coverage of the 2008 general election presidential campaign (New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today). Horse race coverage was most common topic (45%), followed by themes about character (32%), and policy (23%). The tone of newspaper coverage was …
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 And 2012 Presidential Nomination Acceptance Addresses, William L. Benoit
A Functional Analysis Of 2008 And 2012 Presidential Nomination Acceptance Addresses, William L. Benoit
Speaker & Gavel
This study investigates the presidential candidates’ nomination acceptance ad-dresses in 2008 and 2012. This study applied Benoit’s (2007) Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to the four Acceptances (one from McCain, two from Obama, and one from Romney). Traditionally the conventions kick off the general election campaign and the nominees’ acceptance addresses are high-lights of these events. This work extends previous research on acceptance ad-dresses speeches from 1952-2004. The speeches in 2008 and 2012 used acclaims (73%) more than attacks (27%) or defenses (0.5%). Incumbents acclaimed more, and attacked less, than challengers, particularly when they discussed their records in office …