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Article
Policy-Making Rhetoric and Youth Issues in the 2004 Presidential Campaign
American Behavioral Scientist (2007)
  • Donna R. Hoffman, University of Northern Iowa
  • Alison D. Howard, Department of Political Science and International Studies, Dominican University of California
Abstract
Campaigns make strategic decisions about appealing to various electoral groups. In 2004, both presidential campaigns did choose to appeal to those younger than 30 with their policy-making rhetoric. The authors find, however, that Bush and Kerry approached this demographic differently. Bush did not single out young adults to the extent Kerry did. Instead, Bush chose to treat young voters more as a part of the general electorate than a distinct group, appealing to their self-interest. Kerry was more attentive, directly targeting young citizens by focusing on issues of higher education and especially seeking to appeal to service-oriented young adults.
Keywords
  • Campaign Speeches
Disciplines
Publication Date
May, 2007
Citation Information
Donna R. Hoffman and Alison D. Howard. "Policy-Making Rhetoric and Youth Issues in the 2004 Presidential Campaign" American Behavioral Scientist Vol. 50 Iss. 9 (2007) p. 1264 - 1272 ISSN: 1552-3381
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/alison_howard/13/