The Battle for Congress Consultants, Candidates, and Voters

by Thurber, James A.

• ISBN13: 9780815784630
• ISBN10: 0815784635
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

This volume provides an in-depth examination of six political campaigns waged during competitive 1998 races for the U.S. House of Representatives. The case studies evaluate the professional political consultants who managed each campaign, their interaction with the candidates, and the impact of the campaigns on voters. Relying on unparalleled access to both the consultants involved and the candidates themselves, the contributors explore the electoral setting and context of the congressional districts, the strategy, theme, and message of each campaign, the consultants' decisionmaking, fund-raising, and spending, and any outside forces that entered into the races. The book features new data on tracking, polls, and television advertising budgets.

Author Biography

James A. Thurber is professor of government and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at the American University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
James A. Thurber
One Year and Four Elections: The 1998 Capps Campaign for California's Twenty-Second District	9	(36)
Jeff Gill
Johnson versus Koskoff: The 1998 Campaign for Connecticut's Sixth District	45	(36)
Diana Evans
High Turnout in a Low-Turnout Year: Georgia's Second District	81	(42)
Charles S. Bullock III
Kansas's Third District: The ``Pros from Dover'' Set Up Shop	123	(37)
Burdett A. Loomis
Brian Baird's ``Ring of Fire'': The Quest for Funds and Votes in Washington's Third District	160	(39)
James A. Thurber
Carolyn Long
Wisconsin's Second District: History in the Making	199	(40)
David T. Canon
Appendix: Case Study Framework and Methodology	239	(8)
James A. Thurber
Contributors	247	(2)
Index	249