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Campaigning Alone

Partisan Versus Personal Language in the Presidential Nominating Convention Acceptance Addresses, 1948-2000

University of Texas, Austin

The trend of candidate-centered campaigning has been well-documented in political science, yet communication scholars have largely ignored the sounds of this phenomenon. This study places the rhetoric of the 2000 convention acceptance addresses in perspective by examining the presence and absence of partisan and personal language in convention speeches over the past 50 years (1948 to 2000). Key findings suggest that (a) partisan terms have decreased and personal appeals have increased (somewhat) over time; (b) within these general trends, losing candidates are more likely to employ partisan and personal language than victorious candidates; and (c) although partisan terms were used divisively by Republicans during the 1980s, they have been used to unite in the 2000 campaign. A discussion of these findings submits that the rhetoric of candidate-centered campaigning is not automatic and calls for a more textured model of the rhetoric of candidate-centered campaigns than has been posited previously.

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