eBook

The message matters

Vavreck, Lynn

2009

Overview

The economy is so powerful in determining the results of U.S. presidential elections that political scientists can predict winners and losers with amazing accuracy long before the campaigns start. But if it is true that \"it's the economy, Stupid,\" why do incumbents in good economies sometimes lose? The reason, Lynn Vavreck argues, is that what matters is not just the state of the economy but how candidates react to it. By demonstrating more precisely than ever before how candidates and their campaigns affect the economic vote,The Message Mattersprovides a powerful new way of understanding past elections--and predicting future ones. Vavreck examines the past sixty years of presidential elections and offers a new theory of campaigns that explains why electoral victory requires more than simply being the candidate favored by prevailing economic conditions. Using data from presidential elections since 1952, she reveals why, when, and how campaign messages make a difference--and when they can outweigh economic predictors of election outcomes. The Message Mattersdoes more than show why candidates favored by the economy must build their campaigns around economic messages. Vavreck's theory also explains why candidates disadvantaged by the economy must try to focus their elections on noneconomic issues that meet exacting criteria--and why this is so hard to do.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press,Princeton Univ. Press
• Subject: Activism / Advertising / Al Gore / Barry Goldwater / BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic Conditions / Campaign manager / Candidate / Candidates / Civil Rights Act / Civil Rights Act of 1968 / Consumer confidence / Democratic ideals / Democratic Leadership Council / Domestic policy / Economic Conditions / Economic indicator / Economic problem / Economic stagnation / Economics / Election / Elections / Electoral campaigning / Fellow traveller / Forecasting / Foreign policy / George McGovern / George Stephanopoulos / George W. Bush / Heads of state / Hippie / Incumbent / Independent (voter) / Inflation / Issue voting / Jack Kemp / James Carville / Jimmy Carter / John Birch Society / John F. Kennedy / John McCain / JPHF / JPVL / KCG / Lee Atwater / Lehman Brothers / Major party / Mixed economy / Motion of no confidence / Negative campaigning / New Democrats / New Frontier / New Hampshire primary / News agency / Nuclear warfare / Party platform / Peace through strength / Political campaign / Political campaigns / Political campaigns -- United States / Political Process / POLITICAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / Campaigns & Elections / Politician / Politics and government / Presidential elections / Presidents / Presidents -- United States -- Election / Primary election / Public opinion / Public opinion -- United States / Pundit / Race to the bottom / Staatsoberhaupt / Stump speech (politics) / Tax / Tax and spend / Tax cut / Tax reform / The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion / The New York Times / U.S.A / Uncertainty / Unemployment / United States / United States -- Economic conditions -- Public opinion / United States -- Politics and government / USA / Utility / Valence issue / Voting / Voting behavior / Voting behaviour / Wahlkampf / Wahlverhalten / Walter Mondale / White pride / White Southerners / WIN Party / Öffentliche Meinung
• ISBN: 9780691139630, 0691139628, 9780691139623, 0691139636, 1400830486, 9781400830480