Skip to main content

Setting the Stage: Three Dimensions of Surfacing for 2016

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 1563 Accesses

Part of the book series: Political Campaigning and Communication ((PCC))

Abstract

In this chapter, Smith explores how our four-year national conversation rhetorically reconstituted the electoral landscape and shaped the subsequent nomination campaigns. In describing the surfacing phase of the 2016 campaign, Smith identifies three kinds of surfacing. It was a national conversation that concerned not only aspiring candidates but evolving structures such as laws, rules, and calendars as well as evolving issue priorities and their publics. Smith argues that the 2016 presidential campaign occurred in a rhetorical political landscape quite different from that of 2012 that greatly influenced the nomination campaigns of both parties. It is equally unlikely that the 2016 landscape will frame the 2020 campaign.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Craig Allen Smith, Presidential campaign communication, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Polity, 2015).

  2. 2.

    Green Papers, “Democratic Detailed Delegate Allocation”. greenpapers.com. Accessed December 12, 2016, http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P16/D-Alloc.phtml.

  3. 3.

    Green Papers. “Republican Detailed Delegate Allocation—2016”. greenpapers.com, February 3, 2013. Accessed April 15, 2016 http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P16/R-Alloc.phtml.

  4. 4.

    Green Papers. “Republican Detailed Delegate Allocation—2016”. greenpapers.com, February 3, 2013. Accessed April 15, 2016 http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P16/R-Alloc.phtml.

  5. 5.

    Jasmine C. Lee, “How States Moved Toward Stricter Voter ID Laws,” New York Times, November 3, 2016. Accessed November 4, 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/03/us/elections/how-states-moved-toward-stricter-voter-id-laws.html.

  6. 6.

    Jeffrey Gottfried, Michael Barthel, Elisa Shearer, and Amy Mitchell, “The 2016 Presidential Campaign: A News Event that’s Hard to Miss,” Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media, February 4, 2016. Accessed March 3, 2016 http://www.journalism.org/2016/02/04/the-2016-presidential-campaign-a-news-event-thats-hard-to-miss.

  7. 7.

    Pew Research Center. (2012. October 25). “Internet Gains Most as Campaign News Source but Cable TV Still Leads,” Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media, October 25, 2012. Accessed December 8, 2016 http://www.journalism.org/2012/10/25/social-media-doubles-remains-limited.

  8. 8.

    Natalie Jomini Stroud, Niche News: The Politics of News Choice. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

  9. 9.

    Lydia Saad, “Economy is Dominant Issue for Americans as Election Nears,” gallup.com, October 22, 2012. Accessed December 22, 2016 http://www.gallup.com/poll/158267/economy-dominant-issue-americans-election-nears.aspx.

  10. 10.

    Rebecca Riffkin, “Economy Tops Americans’ Minds as Most Important Problem,” gallup.com, February 11, 2016. Accessed December 22, 2016 http://www.gallup.com/poll/189158/economy-tops-americans-minds-important-problem.aspx.

  11. 11.

    Riffkin, 2016.

  12. 12.

    Polly Mosendz, “Chart: How Republican Presidential Debate Topics Compare with the Democratic Debate,” newsweek.com, January 14, 2016. Accessed January 26, 2016 http://www.newsweek.com/chart-republican-debate-gop-democrate-debate-compare-416025 and Josh Keller and Karen Yourish, “Party Debates, or Ignores,” New York Times, March 10, 2016. Accessed March 12, 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/11/us/elections/what-parties-debate-or-ignore.html?_r=1.

  13. 13.

    Smith, 2015.

  14. 14.

    Federal Election Commission. “2016 Presidential Campaign Finance”, Accessed February 6, 2016 http://www.fec.gov/disclosurep/pnational.do.

  15. 15.

    Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noell and John Zaller, The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

  16. 16.

    Aaron Bycoffe, A. “The Endorsement Primary,” fivethirtyeight.com, February 1, 2016. Accessed February 1, 2016 http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-endorsement-primary.

  17. 17.

    Bycoffe, 2016.

  18. 18.

    Gottfried et al., 2016.

  19. 19.

    Gdelt, “Presidential Campaign 2016: Television News Tracker”. gdeltproject.org. Accessed February 10, 2016 http://television.gdeltproject.org/cgi-bin/iatv_campaign2016/iatv_campaign2016.

  20. 20.

    Gdelt, 2016.

  21. 21.

    Quinnipiac University Poll. “Clinton Owns Dem 2016 Nod; Tops Top Republicans, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds,” Quinnipiac University Poll, July 8, 2014. Accessed December 17, 2016 https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2058.

  22. 22.

    Real Clear Politics. “Polls”, realclearpolitics.com, November 1, 2015. Accessed November 1, 2016 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html.

  23. 23.

    Real Clear Politics, “Polls,” realclearpolitics.com, February 1, 2016. Accessed February 1, 2016 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html.

  24. 24.

    Smith, 2015.

  25. 25.

    Des Moines Register, “Take a Deeper Look at Iowa Caucus Results,” desmoinesregister.com, February 2, 2016. Accessed February 2, 2016 http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/05/take-deeper-look-iowa-caucus-results/79839784.

  26. 26.

    Des Moines Register, “Take a Deeper Look”.

  27. 27.

    Des Moines Register, “Iowa Caucuses 2016: Candidate Tracker,” desmoinesregister.com, February 2, 2016. Accessed February 2, 2016 http://data.desmoinesregister.com/iowa-caucus/candidate-tracker/index.php.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Craig Allen Smith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Smith, C.A. (2017). Setting the Stage: Three Dimensions of Surfacing for 2016. In: Denton Jr, R. (eds) The 2016 US Presidential Campaign. Political Campaigning and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52599-0_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics