The 1992 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective

Political campaigns are highly complex and sophisticated communication events: communication of issues, images, social reality, and persons. They are essentially exercises in the creation, recreation, and transmission of significant symbols through human communication. As we attempt to make sense of our environment, political bits of communication inform our voting choices, world views, and legislative desires. This volume considers the 1992 presidential campaign from a communication perspective. Each chapter focuses on a specific area of political campaign communication: the communication functions and activities across the campaign phases, the nomination conventions, the debates, political advertising, the discussion and framing of issues, candidate images, the role and impact of network and local news, electronic town hall meetings, and C-Span.