ABSTRACT
Students of rhetoric have contributed much to our understanding of the interplay of visual communication forms, politics, and contemporary American culture. Most studies have focused on televised political advertising, speechmaking, and news coverage of political candidates. However, the political campaign film is one genre that combines characteristics of all three modes of political communication. As a hybrid documentary and advertisement, film and mode of public address, this genre marks a rich site where politics, culture, and communication intersect.
