The Presidential Character Summary
In the Michael Nelsons critique of James David Barber and the Psychological Presidency, he discusses important concepts from Barber’s book The Presidential Character. During his critique he explains that Barber cites a study of network evening news coverage of the 1972 election campaign which found that almost as much time was devoted to the polls, strategies, rallies, and other “horse-race” elements of the election as to the candidate’s personal qualifications and issue stands combined.
During the 2016 presidential election the news media had a large effect on whom would get the presidential nomination, since the coverage of the primaries focused more on the horse race rather than the overall candidates. The Harvard Kennedy School decided
to conduct research during the 2016 primaries about what the media covered during the primaries. The media during this past election focused more on the completive game than policy issues and the candidates characters.
In the republican candidate coverage, Trump had dominated the media compared to other republican candidates. The media’s focus on the election game was so heavy in this period that the candidates’ character and policies were almost lost, ranging from a low of 4 percent of Rubio’s coverage to a high of 8 percent for Trump’s. Overall, the 2016 presidential election focused more on the horse race coverage rather than the candidates character that Barber discussed. The media is the reason for this as they focused on the competitive aspect of the race rather than what type of president that would be in office.
During the 2016 presidential election the news media had a large effect on whom would get the presidential nomination, since the coverage of the primaries focused more on the horse race rather than the overall candidates. The Harvard Kennedy School decided
to conduct research during the 2016 primaries about what the media covered during the primaries. The media during this past election focused more on the completive game than policy issues and the candidates characters.
In the republican candidate coverage, Trump had dominated the media compared to other republican candidates. The media’s focus on the election game was so heavy in this period that the candidates’ character and policies were almost lost, ranging from a low of 4 percent of Rubio’s coverage to a high of 8 percent for Trump’s. Overall, the 2016 presidential election focused more on the horse race coverage rather than the candidates character that Barber discussed. The media is the reason for this as they focused on the competitive aspect of the race rather than what type of president that would be in office.