What Influences the News Coverage that Candidates Receive on Issues?
A Look at Jobs Coverage in the 2004 Presidential Election

Introduction | Background | Expectations | Data | Methods | Results | Conclusions | Appendix

In the 2004 race to White House, the Democratic presidential candidates focused on a single issue of the failing U.S. economy: Jobs. The effect of their campaign has placed jobs as the standard by which the US economy will be judged during the 2004 election year.  The Democrats were highly successful in creating a simple, unifying party message that attacked the Bush Administration at its weakest link.  Although the Administration can hardly be faulted for the majority of the economic setbacks in the past few years (some even preceding Bush’s inauguration), the Democrats’ campaign has placed Bush in the judgment chair as the presidential challengers take the prosecution side.  The Democrats, by simplifying their message and persistently repeating it, not only brought jobs to the forefront of the economic debate, but also brought unity to a seemingly debunked party.  The resulting press coverage from their efforts reveals classic political theory working at its best, further underpinning the importance of candidate and party responsiveness, a simplified message that resonates with the public, and unified repetition that became ubiquitous in the media.  While their tactics were hardly unique, their execution overpowered any academic or Republican counterattack.   After all, it’s about the jobs, stupid.

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By Evans McGowan

© Davidson College, 2004, Department of Political Science, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to Patrick Sellers
Created: 4/27/2004. Last updated: 5/2/2004.