The Change Election

by Magleby, David B.

• ISBN13: 9781439903391
• ISBN10: 1439903395
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-05
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

The 2008 US general election was an extraordinary event that represented change at many levels. The candidates' innovative campaigns changed how funds were raised, how voters were mobilized, and how messages were communicated through advertising and the internet. Parties and interest groups played their own important role in this historic election. InThe Change Election, David Magleby assembles a team of accomplished political scientists to provide an in-depth analysis of this groundbreaking presidential election. These scholars through a set of compelling case studies examine the competition for votes in a dozen competitive House and Senate contests and for the White House in five states: Ohio, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Colorado, and New Mexico. Backed by a wealth of data, and extensive interviews, the contributors offer an up-close look at the interactions of candidates' individual skills and personalities with the larger political forces at work in the election year. The book offers insights into the rapidly evolving organizational and technical aspects of campaigning. The dramatic success Obama and other candidates had in raising money-especially from small donors-is addressed along with how money was raised and spent by the candidates, party committees, and interest groups competing for votes. Building on a tested methodology,The Change Electionexplores the interplay of money and electioneering. Magleby builds on more than a decade of prior studies to show the ways participants in the American electoral process have adapted to statutory and judicial decisions and how the 2008 election has the potential to transform American electoral politics.

Author Biography

David Magleby is Dean of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University. He is the editor of Financing the 2000 Election and a coeditor of Financing the 2004 Election (with Anthony Corrado and Kelly D. Patterson) and Financing the 2008 Election (with Anthony Corrado), and for nearly two decades he has been a coauthor of Government by the People, an introductory American government textbook. He has also written numerous other campaign finance books.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
A Change Election	p. 1
How the 2008 Elections Were Financed	p. 27
Elections as Team Sports: Spending by Candidates, Political Parties, and Interest Groups in the 2008 Election Cycle	p. 52
Voter Mobilization in the 2008 Presidential Election	p. 87
The Conditional Party Teams of the 2008 North Carolina Federal Elections	p. 108
Shifting Granite: New Hampshire's Change from Largely Republican to Largely Democratic over Two Election Cycles	p. 140
The Battle for Ohio in 2008: The Politics of Pragmatism	p. 172
Colorado: Democrats Expand Their Base and Win Unaffiliated Votes	p. 212
Moving from Red to Blue: The 2008 New Mexico Presidential, Senate, and First Congressional District Races	p. 248
Continuity and Change in the 2008 Federal Elections	p. 282
List of Studies	p. 297
List of Interviews	p. 299
Contributors	p. 305
Index	p. 307
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