Studies of Communication in the 2020 Presidential Campaign

Studies of Communication in the 2020 Presidential Campaign explores a wide range of communication elements, themes, and topics of the 2020 presidential election. Each chapter serves as a stand-alone study focusing on the role and function of communication within the context of the chapter topics and the 2020 election.

Studies of Communication in the 2020 Presidential Campaign explores a wide range of communication elements, themes, and topics of the 2020 presidential election. The introduction provides a brief snapshot summarizing the role of more traditional elements of campaign communication as well as the newer elements of social media and journalistic practices that transformed the political landscape in 2020. Each chapter serves as a stand-alone study focusing on the role and function of communication within the context of the chapter topics and the 2020 election.

Table of Contents

Introduction and Overview: The Historic and Tragic Presidential Campaign of 2020

Robert E Denton, Jr., Virginia Tech

1. Shadowboxing: Trump’s Campaign Against Biden’s Null Persona

Dennis C. Cali, University of Texas at Tyler and Kelley E. Connor, University of Texas at Tyler

2. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and the Construction of Crisis in Campaign 2020

Diana Zulli, Purdue University and Kevin Coe, University of Utah

3. The Trump Card: The Virtue and Vulnerability of a Narrative-based Presidency

Pat Loebs, Grace College and Karly Poyner-Smith, University of Memphis

4. The Democratic Primary Debates in Political Cartoons, or, Santa Claus Gets Voted Off Fantasy Island

Christina M. Knopf, SUNY Cortland

5. Blue Privilege and Presidential Election 2020: The Empire Returns

Benjamin Voth, Southern Methodist University

6. The 2020 Presidential Campaign, Election and Outcome: “The Agenda-Spin Persuasion Wars”

Theodore F. Sheckels, Randolph-Macon College and Richard E. Vatz, Towson University

7 Trump as the Embodiment of Plato’s Critique of Rhetoric

Timothy C. McGee, Rider University and David R. Dewberry, Rider University

8. Face Threats in the 2020 Presidential Debates

Edward A. Hinck, Shelly S. Hinck, University of Central Michigan, Robert S. Hinck, Air University (Maxwell Air Force Base) and William O. Dailey, University of Central Michigan.