On Message: Television Advertising by the Presidential Candidates in Election 2008

On Message explores how the twelve leading presidential candidates of Election 2008, six in each party, used the major Themes of televised political advertising-images, issues, and attacks-to create campaign narratives justifying their election. Each candidate introduced numerous ads over many months, presenting him- or herself as a qualified leader and advocate of specific public policies, or trying to raise doubts about the images and issues advanced by rivals. Any one particular ad served two purposes; it provided a message centering on one or more of the major themes, and it was a component of a continuing narrative where the candidate attempted to answer the political needs that arose from his or her strategic position of membership in either the incumbent Republican or opposition Democratic parties. In Election 2008, the Democratic candidates needed to convince voters that political change of a particular direction was needed, that they were the individual who could enact it, and that their opponents could not. Republican candidates needed to convince voters that the nation needed changes that would make the policies their party had enacted more effective, and that they were the individual who could deliver while their rivals would fail. E.D. Dover provides an over view of televised advertising, introductions of candidates, and descriptions of fund raising, polls, advertising expenditures, and election out comes. The book also follows the advertising strategies of the individual candidates, and of each party. It discusses the effectiveness of the individual narratives and analyzes patterns of televised advertising that regularly occurs across a variety of electoral settings.

E. D. Dover is professor of political science, public policy and administration at Western Oregon University.