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"The Manhattan Project," 1992: An analysis of rhetorical changes in the strategic modification of the Clinton campaign for the presidency

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Date Issued:
1996
Summary:
In the spring of 1992, Democratic candidate Bill Clinton began to slip in the polls during his quest for the presidency, primarily because of negative publicity surrounding character issues. To counteract the problem, he embraced a radical campaign overhaul, "The Manhattan Project," designed by his ambitious young strategists. The plan was to strengthen his campaign theme, and to portray him as a middle-class (as opposed to elitist) candidate. Ten of Clinton's formal speeches, five from before the change in strategy and five from after, are the primary research material investigated in this study. The speeches are compared through a modified content analysis of selected words and themes, and through a qualitative analysis based on current theories in political and campaign rhetoric of what constitutes a successful campaign, including evaluation of theme, symbolism, imagery, contextuality, and constraints, in an effort to determine if the strategy change was effective.
Title: "The Manhattan Project," 1992: An analysis of rhetorical changes in the strategic modification of the Clinton campaign for the presidency.
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Name(s): Donovan, Rose-Marie.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Hahn, Dan F., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1996
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 112 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: In the spring of 1992, Democratic candidate Bill Clinton began to slip in the polls during his quest for the presidency, primarily because of negative publicity surrounding character issues. To counteract the problem, he embraced a radical campaign overhaul, "The Manhattan Project," designed by his ambitious young strategists. The plan was to strengthen his campaign theme, and to portray him as a middle-class (as opposed to elitist) candidate. Ten of Clinton's formal speeches, five from before the change in strategy and five from after, are the primary research material investigated in this study. The speeches are compared through a modified content analysis of selected words and themes, and through a qualitative analysis based on current theories in political and campaign rhetoric of what constitutes a successful campaign, including evaluation of theme, symbolism, imagery, contextuality, and constraints, in an effort to determine if the strategy change was effective.
Identifier: 15308 (digitool), FADT15308 (IID), fau:12078 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1996.
Subject(s): Presidents--United States--Election--1992
Clinton, Bill,--1946---Oratory
Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century
Communication in politics--United States--History--20th century
United States--Politics and government--1989-1993
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15308
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.