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Tracking the 2004 Presidential Campaign Web SitesSimilarities and DifferencesUniversity of Arkansas
University of Arkansas This study analyzed the content of news releases posted on the presidential candidate Web sites of George W. Bush and John Kerry during the 2004 election campaign. Findings suggest topics like terrorism and the war in Iraq received significant attention in the news releases, supplanting traditional campaign policy issues such as education, social security, and Medicare. The 2004 online campaign news releases also confirmed the prominence of attack over policy issues in the two major party candidates rhetoric. Also, 80% of the news releases posted by George Bush and John Kerry on their campaign Web sites contained an attack against the opposition. Finally, approximately 80% of the overall 2004 online news releases posted by Bush and Kerry on their campaign Web sites contained at least one reference to candidates personality traits.
Key Words: political Web sites Internet campaigns presidents and technology
American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 49, No. 4,
535-547 (2005) |
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