Tag Archives: 2008 campaign

UA’s Kate Kenski Tracks Election Through Talking Points, Tweets

Kate Kenski, an associate professor in the UA communication department, is studying the 2012 election using talking points, Twitter feeds and also jokes.

Election season is to politics-watchers as tax season is to accountants. There are polls to follow, debates to dissect and political ads to analyze.

For Kate Kenski, an associate professor in the University of Arizona communication department and School of Government and Public Policy, election season provides a wealth of data that she analyzes to write and teach about public opinion and political communication.

For the 2012 election, Kenski is keeping a keen eye on whether the frequent explanations for wins and losses in previous campaigns hold true for this campaign. Will the economy be the determining factor? Or will candidate personality or message strategy tip the campaign in one candidate’s direction over the other’s? (more…)

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Your Body Doesn’t Lie: People Ignore Political Ads of Candidates They Oppose

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A recent study examined people’s bodily responses while watching presidential campaign ads – and discovered another way that people avoid political information that challenges their beliefs.

In the last days of the 2008 campaign, researchers had people watch a variety of actual ads for Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama while the viewers’ heart rates, skin conductance and activation of facial muscles were monitored. (more…)

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