New website offers comprehensive look at presidential campaign

With John Kerry's stunning victory in the Iowa Caucus yesterday and with the New Hampshire primary coming up, the race is wide open for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. Information on the candidate's messages (e.g. their television spots and debates) and on the general news coverage of the campaign is constantly being updated and revised. William Benoit, one of the nation's leading experts on presidential campaigns, has developed a comprehensive Website for the public and the media to understanding the 2004 presidential campaign.

"In the research my team has developed over the years, we have generated a lot of information on presidential campaign discourse, and I wanted to make it available to the general public," said Benoit, professor of Communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia, who, along with four doctoral students, will be updating the site regularly with information about the campaign. "I don't believe there is any Web out there that is as comprehensive as this one in terms of topics and depth."

The Website, PresidentialCampaign2004, will be updated throughout the campaign with information on such items as television spots, debates and television talk show appearances. The site will give viewers historical background (e.g. when the first presidential debate was held or the first presidential television spot), contextual information (e.g. how do primary campaigns differ from general campaigns), comparative information (e.g. are television spots increasingly negative) and information about the current campaign.

Benoit plans to add some sample syllabi to help teachers of social studies, civics and government who want to teach about the election. He also hopes to add some interactive features, such as internet polls and Web chats.

Benoit has published five books and numerous journal articles about political campaigns. His most recent book, Campaign 2000: A Functional Analysis of Presidential Campaign Discourse, analyzes presidential campaign messages from 2000.

Additional links:

Bill Benoit
Department of Communication
Presidential Campaign 2004

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