An Unprecedented Election

Written by leading scholars of political communication, this book provides a comprehensive accounting of the campaign communication that characterized the unprecedented 2016 presidential campaign.
The political events leading up to election day on November 8, 2016, involved unprecedented events in U.S. history: Hillary Clinton was the first woman to be nominated by a major party, and she was favored to win the highest seat in the nation. Donald Trump, arguably one of the most unconventional and most-unlikely-to-succeed candidates in U.S. history, became the leading candidate against Clinton. Then, an even more surprising thing happened: Trump won, an outcome unexpected by all experts and statistical models.
An Unprecedented Election: Media, Communication, and the Electorate in the 2016 Campaign presents proprietary research conducted by a national election team and leading scholars in political communication and documents the most significant-and in some cases, the most shocking-features of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The information presented in this book is derived from national surveys, experiments, and textual analysis and helps readers grasp the truly unique characteristics of this campaign that make it unlike any other in U.S. history. The chapters explain the underlying dynamics of this astonishing election by assessing the important role of both traditional and social media, the evolving (and potentially diminishing) influence of televised campaign advertisements, the various implications of three historic presidential debates, and the contextual significance of convention addresses. Readers will come away with an appreciation of the content and effects of the campaign communication and media coverage as well as the unique attributes of the electorate that ultimately selected Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.

Benjamin R. Warner, PhD, is assistant professor of communication at the University of Missouri. Dianne G. Bystrom, PhD, is director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University. Mitchell S. McKinney, PhD, is professor of communication at the University of Missouri and currently serves as faculty fellow for academic personnel in the Office of the Provost. Mary C. Banwart, PhD, is associate professor in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Kansas and director of the Institute for Leadership Studies.

Introduction Understanding the Unprecedented 2016 Campaign: Two Historical Candidacies Yield an Unexpected Result Benjamin R. Warner and Dianne G. Bystrom Part One Media Coverage Chapter 1 Selective Exposure and Homophily During the 2016 Presidential Campaign Natalie Jomini Stroud and Jessica R. Collier Chapter 2 What Mobilizes Partisans? Exploring the Underlying Pathways Between Partisan Media and Political Participation Heesook Choi, Benjamin R. Warner, and Freddie J. Jennings Chapter 3 Media Event Influence in the 2016 Race: The Debates, Trump Groping Tape, and the Last-Minute FBI Announcement Esther Thorson, Samuel M. Tham, Weiyue Chen, and Vamsi Kanuri Chapter 4 The Rhetoric of Impossible Expectations: Media Coverage of Hillary Clinton's 2016 General Election Campaign Kristina Horn Sheeler Chapter 5 Depends on Who Is Asking: An Endorsement Experiment During the 2016 Presidential Election Kalyca Becktel and Kaye D. Sweetser Chapter 6 Attributions of Incivility in Presidential Campaign News Ashley Muddiman Chapter 7 Fact-Checking and the 2016 Presidential Election: News Media's Attempts to Correct Misleading Information from the Debates Daniela V. Dimitrova and Kimberly Nelson Chapter 8 "I'm About to Be President; We're All Going to Die": Baldwin, Trump, and the Rhetorical Power of Comedic Presidential Impersonation Will Howell and Trevor Parry-Giles Part Two Campaign Communication Chapter 9 Processing the Political: Presidential Primary Debate "Live-Tweeting" as Information Processing Josh C. Bramlett, Mitchell S. McKinney, and Benjamin R. Warner Chapter 10 Donald Trump and the Rejection of the Norms of American Politics and Rhetoric Robert C. Rowland Chapter 11 "The Greatest Country on Earth": The Evolution of Michelle Obama's American Dream Ryan Neville-Shepard and Meredith Neville-Shepard Chapter 12 Loss of Faith: A Realignment of Religion on the Campaign Trail Brian Kaylor Chapter 13 Late Night with Donald Trump: An Exploration of the Combined Effects of Political Comedy and Political Advertising Freddie J. Jennings, Calvin R. Coker, Josh C. Bramlett, Joel Lansing Reed, and Joshua P. Bolton Chapter 14 Going on Defense: The Unprecedented Use of Defensive Appeals in 2016 U.S. Presidential Debates Corey B. Davis Chapter 15 Gender and Videostyle in 2016: Advertising in Mixed-Gender Races for the U.S. House Kelly L. Winfrey and James M. Schnoebelen Chapter 16 From Interactivity to Incitement: Ubiquitous Communication and Elite Calls for Participation Joshua M. Scacco, Kevin Coe, and Delaney Harness Part Three Communication Attitudes and Behaviors of the Electorate Chapter 17 Corn Belt Controversy: Intraparty Divisions and Political Cynicism at the 2016 Iowa Caucuses Joel Lansing Reed, Sopheak Hoeun, Josh C. Bramlett, Molly Greenwood, and Grace Hase Chapter 18 Exploring and Explaining Communication, Knowledge, and Well-Being Sex Differences Related to the 2016 U.S. Presidential Primary Season R. Lance Holbert, Esul Park, and Nicholas W. Robinson Chapter 19 Gender and the Vote in the 2016 Presidential Election Kate Kenski Chapter 20 #election#elección: Latino Twitter Users and Reactions to Presidential Political Gaffes Samantha Hernandez Chapter 21 Analyzing Tweets About the 2016 U.S. Presidential "Blunder" Election Michael W. Kearney Chapter 22 Understanding the Authoritarian Voter in the 2016 Presidential Election Sumana Chattopadhyay Chapter 23 Social Dominance, Sexism, and the Lasting Effects on Political Communication from the 2016 Election Mary C. Banwart and Michael W. Kearney About the Editors and Contributors Index