ABSTRACT
RHETORICIANS and communication researchers have long been interested in the political campaign as a persuasive phenomenon. Just as the communication process has the components of a source sending a message through a channel to a receiver and receiving feedback in a cycle of information exchange, so a campaign has the components of candidates (sources) sending messages (speeches, commercials, and so on) through television or radio or newspapers (channels) to the intended voters (receivers) and receiving their applause, their response to polls, and ultimately their voting decisions (feedback). In studying this process, researchers have speculated about what variable most influences a voter’s decision. McCleneghan (1980) lists eleven independent variables that have acceptable reliability in predicting which candidate might win office: incumbency, newspaper coverage, newspaper editorial endorsement, newspaper advertising, television news coverage, television advertising, candidate image, political philosophy, amount of money spent in the election by a candidate, the economic climate, and voter turnout. And this list is not complete. The variables of party registration, issue positions, and homophily should certainly be added, based on the extensive research done on these topics.
