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This study employs NES (National Election Survey) data from several presidential elections to investigate the effects of presidential debate watching on voters' issue knowledge, character evaluation, and vote choice. Debates can instill issue knowledge; however, voters are less likely to learn about incumbent presidents seeking re-election after a four-year term in office than about other candidates. Debates are also capable of changing voters' impressions of the candidates' character. Finally, at times debates help viewers make a vote choice; they are more likely to strengthen existing preferences (increasing confidence in their vote choice) than alter vote preferences.

Applies the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to the 1988 presidential debates between George Bush and Michael Dukakis. Challenges the notion that this campaign was mostly negative. Concludes that despite the belief that modern campaigns are devoid of substance, these debates stressed policy about twice as much as character. (SG)

Reports the results of two studies measuring the effects on undergraduate communication students of watching U.S. presidential primary debates. Concludes that primary debates are capable of influencing both policy and character impressions of the candidates, as well as changing voting intentions and increasing voter confidence. (SG)

Uses a pretest/posttest design to assess more subtle effects of watching a 2000 presidential debate on attitudes and vote intention among undergraduate students. Notes that leadership and overall policy stance became more important factors in vote choice after watching the debate. Demonstrates a variety of potentially important effects of watching presidential debates. (SG)

Compares data from a content analysis of the 1996 and 2000 presidential debates with news coverage of those debates. Concludes that the average newspaper story in 2000 only reported 7% of what the candidates said in a debate. Suggests that voters cannot expect to obtain an accurate or complete representation of presidential debates from media coverage. (SG)

Compares respondents who watched the first 1996 presidential debate with respondents who did not. Finds (1) those who watched the debate could more accurately recognize issue positions of Clinton and Dole than nonwatchers; (2) differences in the groups' assessment of character traits of the leading candidates; and (3) more respondents gave policy reasons than character reasons for voting decisions. (PA)

Examines the strategies used by actor Hugh Grant (in his appearances on talk shows) to help restore his reputation after he was arrested for lewd behavior with a prostitute. Uses this case as a springboard to contrast entertainment image repair with political and corporate image repair, arguing that important situational differences can be identified. (SR)

Applies the theory of image restoration to a case study of USAir's response to media coverage of a 1994 crash. Argues that introducing such case studies in the classroom helps students to understand the basic tenets of persuasion in the highly charged context of repairing a corporate reputation after an attack. (SR)

Describes the theory of image restoration discourse as an approach for understanding corporate crisis situations. States this theory can be used by practitioners to help design messages during crises and by critics or educators to critically evaluate such messages. Describes and illustrates the theory's basic concepts. Offers suggestions for crisis communication based on this theoretical approach. (PA)

Articulates a theoretical framework for understanding the fundamental functions of political advertising (acclaiming, attacking, defending) which occur on the twin grounds of policy considerations and character. Applies this theory of political discourse to presidential general election television spots from 1980-1996, finding that Democrats and incumbents acclaimed more than they attacked, while Republicans and challengers attacked more than they acclaimed. (SR)

Develops a typology of persuasive attack strategies. Identifies two key components of persuasive attack: responsibility and offensiveness. Describes several strategies for intensifying each of these elements. Applies this analysis to "Dateline NBC"'s allegations that Wal-Mart's "Buy American" campaign was deceptive. Concludes that "Dateline NBC'"s persuasive attack was effective in establishing offensiveness and responsibility. (SR)

Investigates the argumentation advanced in briefs, oral arguments, and the Supreme Court's opinion in the case of Miranda versus Arizona. Considers the background of the case, analyzes the argumentation and its influences on the court, and stresses the importance of viewing the Supreme Court as an active participant in the decision-making process. (PRA)

Compares the views of Isocrates and Plato on rhetoric and rhetorical education. Elucidates their criticisms of the sophists, their general assumptions about the nature and function of rhetoric, and their views on rhetorical education. (PRA)

This study examines the Republican primary debates from the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. With a weak economy, numerous Republicans vied to challenge President Barack Obama who was completing his first term in office. Of course, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney eventually seized the Republican nomination. This investigation employs content analysis and applies Functional Theory to the primary campaign debate messages. Acclaims were more common than attacks, which in turn occurred more frequently than defenses; and policy was discussed more often than character. Findings from the 2012 debates are compared with results from analysis of presidential primary debates in earlier campaigns. Key Words: primary campaign, presidential primary debates, 2012 Republican primary candidates, Functional Theory, The president of the United States is the most powerful politician in the world. Therefore, the process of choosing a president is important both to the U.S. and the world. [...]

This study reports a content analysis of 20 Democratic and 16 Republican primary debates from the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. President George W. Bush was completing his second and final term in office and Vice President Dick Cheney decided not to run fir president. Thus, the 2008 U.S. presidential primary is the first open campaign (with no sitting president or vice president competing) since 1952. This study uses content analysis to apply Functional Theory to these campaign messages. Acclaims were more common than attacks, which in turn occurred more frequently than defenses. Policy was discussed more often than character. Republicans were more likely to attack other Republicans than Democrats; Democrats criticized members of both parties at about the same rate. The candidates discussed more of the issues owned by their political party than issues owned by the other political party. Key Words: 2008 presidential campaign, primary debates, Functional Theory, functions, topics, issue ownership, Presidential primary debates have been employed to help inform voters in the United States since 1948, when Dewey and Stassen participated in a debate on radio during the Oregon Republican [...]

The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 are watershed events in America's political development. At that point, Senators were selected by state legislatures-citizens could not vote directly for their Senators. Still, these debates were well attended public events. Existing analyses (e.g., Jaffa, 1982; Zarefsky, 1990) have examined the issues (e.g., slavery and federalism); this essay has a more modest goal of comparing these messages with more recent Senate debates. Douglas, the incumbent, attacked more and acclaimed less than Lincoln, the challenger. Lincoln (who was the target of more attacks) produced more defenses than Douglas. The candidates' discourse was divided about evenly between policy and character. When discussing policy, they most frequently used general goals, followed by past deeds and then future plans. Character utterances were comprised of those about personal qualities, followed by ideals and, rarely, leadership ability. Comparisons revealed the Lincoln-Douglas debates to be more negative, with more emphasis on character (and less on policy) than recent Senate debates. Key Words: Lincoln-Douglas debates, functional analysis, Political debates have a long history in the United States. The first presidential primary debate on record, broadcast on radio from Oregon in 1948, featured two Republicans, Thomas Dewey and [...]

The study of political mass communication information outlet effects has been dominated by two types of studies, those which focus on a single outlet and those which look at the comparative influence of multiple outlets. The current study seeks to advance a third study type by offering a theory of political campaign media connectedness. Three axioms are offered in this work. In addition, a series of hypotheses involving tire political communication campaign information outlets (conservative political talk radio, FOX cable TV news, daily newspapers, national network TV news, debate viewing) are posited. This work emphasizes the need to understand how various information outlets function in coordination with one another to produce a potentially diverse set of direct and indirect political campaign media effects. Future lines of theoretical inquiry and empirical research are outlined. Keywords: Political Elections; Media Relationships; Campaign Effects; Debate Viewing; Theory Building

Senator John McCain's selection of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 came as a surprise to many. Senators Joe Biden, John McCain, and Barack Obama had been in the public eye since before 2007 as they campaigned for the presidency-and Biden and MeCain had been in the spotlight in earlier presidential campaigns. Thus, of the four running mates for the two major political parties, Palin was the least well-known. The selection of Palin generated tremendous interest in the vice presidential debate. For the first time in history more voters watched the vice presidential debate than the presidential events. This paper reports a functional analysis (Benoit, 2007) of the 2008 vice presidential debate. Key Words: Biden, Palin, Vice President, debate, Functional Theory, functions, topics, A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE 2008 VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: BIDEN VERSUS PALIN The choice of a running mate is perhaps the single most important decision that a presidential candidate will [...]