pulp politics: popular culture and political advertising - Angelfire

24 Pages·2001·0.21 MB·English

P P : P C
ULP OLITICS OPULAR ULTURE AND
P A
OLITICAL DVERTISING
GLENN W. RICHARDSON JR.
A key element in the way political advertising conveys meaning to viewers is the holis-
tic evocation of familiar forms (or genres) of popular culture through broadly recog-
n i z a ble pa ck a ges of a u d i ovi suals and narra tive s . Be c a u se vi ewers en ga ge su ch
recognizable forms through what cognitive scientists refer to as “top-down”processing,
admakers can rely on viewers to“fill in the blanks” consistent with the form,and in
ways that tap deep persuasive emotion.Such meanings have frequently eluded analysts.
In addition to providing clues to substantive meaning,genre analysis can provide for a
more informed taxonomy ofpolitical advertising,as well as offer additional analytical
leverage to the adwatch journalism that has evolved in an effort to police the claims of
political commercials.
In 1996, campaign advertising was once again the single biggest category of
expenditures for presidential candidates, with the Dole and Clinton campaigns
devoting a combined 49 percent oftheir expenditures to ads;almost all ofthat share
(nearly $113,000,000) went to television.1Spending on TV spots in congressional
campaigns has also grown.By 1992,roughly one-quarter ofspending in the typical
House race was devoted to television—and nearly one-third in Senate campaigns.2
A concomitant profusion ofscholarly research has provided us with an enormous
base of knowledge regarding how ads are constructed and some insight into how
political advertising influences viewers.3
Armed with such knowledge, scholars have devised a handful of alternative
typologies for categorizing campaign spots.They have sought to discern the ways in
which political advertising conveys meaning. Journalists and academics have also
been active in “policing”the claims ofcampaign ads,and over the past decade,this
“adwatch”journalism has become commonplace in election coverage.
Gl enn W.Ri ch a rd son Jr.is assistant profe s sor ofpol i tical sci en ce at Ku t z town Un ivers i ty in Ku t z town ,
Pen n s ylva n i a . The author wishes to thank G. R . Boyn to n , Ka ren Hu l t , John Nel son and Chuck
Wa l cott for their advi ce and su ppo rt and Ma rty Med h u rst and the anonym ous revi ewers for Rh etori c
& Pu blic Af f a i rsfor their cl o se reading ofthe manu scri pt and their many helpful co m m ents and su g-
ge s ti o n s .
©Rhetoric & Public Affairs
Vol.3,No.4,2000,pp.603-626
ISSN 1094-8392
604 RHETORIC& PUBLICAFFAIRS
Yet each of these projects can be improved by a more holistic analysis of how
political advertising works (and in some cases fails to work).In what follows,I argue
that analysis of how political advertising uses the audiovisual and narrative con-
ventions ofthe formulaic genres of popular culture (such as the horror story,fam-
ily melodrama,and satire) can enhance our understanding ofhow viewers process
campaign spots. In particular,such genre analysis can contribute insights into the
substantive emotional appeals of ads,grounded in the experiential reality of view-
ers, which more abstract understandings of political argument often overlook.
Genres embed meaning in campaign communication,and their evocation can turn
a dry tale of public policy into a captivating, horrific 30-second nightmare.
Although scholars have in general recognized the salience of audiovisual produc-
tion values in political advertising,they have done so in analytical ways that fail to
grasp the holistic process through which genres shape the meaning viewers derive
from ads.The effort to ground analysis ofpolitical spots in terms ofthe role ads play
in constructing compelling narratives in public discourse can benefit from the
insights offered by greater attention to the nexus between popular culture and cam-
paign ads.The genres ofpopular culture may also better inform scholarly efforts to
categorize different types ofcampaign commercials.Additionally,a genre approach
is consistent with research in cognitive science and information processing,and can
help us to better understand the meaning,memory,and recall ofad content.Finally,
the task of policing the truthfulness of campaign spots can be accomplished more
effectively with recognition of the holistic fashion in which ads convey their mes-
sages.Genre analysis is an overlooked and potentially powerful tool for analysts to
consider.
I begin with a discussion of the genres of popular culture and why they are so
attractive to political communicators.I then consider the extant literature on tele-
vised advertising,first by probing its prominent dichotomies (issue/image and pos-
itive/negative),then by briefly examining some of the typologies it has generated,
and finally by noting how it has not effectively employed genre in its analyses.This
is followed by an argument for genre analysis grounded in part in an examination
ofseveral recent ads and in part through a discussion ofresearch into political cog-
nition.I then present a comparison ofthe way genre and existing approaches would
classify several recent well-known campaign spots and conclude with some rumi-
nations on how an awareness ofgenre might better inform adwatch journalism.
GENRE ANALYSIS: AN HOLISTIC APPROACHTO CAMPAIGNADVERTISING
Political advertising evokes webs ofassociations in the minds ofviewers not only
through verbal or narrative messages,but visually and aurally as well.It frequently
does so,moreover,in ways very familiar to students ofpopular culture:by employ-
ing the combined audiovisual and narrative conventions ofspecific forms orgenres
PULPPOLITICS: POPULARCULTUREANDPOLITICALADVERTISING 605
of entertainment. Rhetoricians dating back to Greek antiquity have engaged the
study of forms. In Form and Genre, Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall
Jamieson describe genres as “groups ofdiscourses which share substantive,stylistic,
and situational characteristics,”and note that
A genre is a group ofacts unified by a constellation offorms that recurs in each ofits
members. These forms, in isolation, appear in other discourses.What is distinctive
about the acts in a genre is the recurrence ofthe forms togetherin constellation.4
Yet it is not the more formal genres of rhetoric but their kindred spirits in popular
culture that have been neglected in the quest to unpack the meaning in campaign
commercials.Indeed,as HerbertW.Simons notes,the central thrust ofthe primary
tradition ofgeneric conceptualization in rhetoric points to the fact that “the study
ofrhetorical genres is discontinuous with the study ofartistic,literary or dialectical
genres.”5For Simons,the core ofthat tradition is the recognition that similar situ-
ations and purposes constrain a diverse array of rhetorical forms.While political
advertising itselfcan be seen in such a light,the role ofpopular genres in ads is not
to shape the structure or form,but rather to provide condensed communication of
the substantive content ofcampaign appeals.Accordingly,we must turn to the work
offilm,entertainment,and cultural critics, who see genre as “a type oftext charac-
terized by a particular style,such as soap opera,news show,sports program,horror
show or detective story.”6 These are the forms that will help provide clues to the
substantive meanings embedded in political ads.
Campaign spots can embrace the audiovisual and narrative conventions of a
particular genre completely,presenting,for example,a miniature horror story.This
was the case in the 1988 Bush-Quayle campaign’s“Revolving Door”ad.It began
with a rumbling and ominous musical chord (quite similar to the one that begins
many horror films,such as the 1991 remake ofCape Fear) and continued to merge
“slasher”sound effects with dark visuals and a frightening narrative.
Such a comprehensive evocation ofgenre presents a true fit to the form,but ads
also can evoke genre through what novelist and literary critic Umberto Eco has
called“intertextual dialogue,”which he describes as “the phenomenon by which a
given text echoes previous texts.”7John Fiske writes ofthree levels ofintertextual-
ity in television culture,the horizontal (including the axes ofgenre and character),
the vertical (discourse about television) and the tertiary (occurring at the level of
each viewer’s own social relations).8 Mere intertextuality in political advertising,
however,which may evoke genre in a more fleeting fashion,can be somewhat lim-
ited in its utility as political communication.
Ind eed, recogni t io n ofho w genr es work can off er insight into why certain pol i t i-
cal ads were no teff ective. A num b er ofDukakis ads in 1988,for exa m p l e , ma y have
been partic u l a r ly inept because ofth e ir pairing of what amounted to two different
606 RHETORIC& PUBLICAFFAIRS
and incons i s t ent gene ric evoca t io ns in the same 30-second spot . In these ads , the first
pa r t used the audiovis ual convent io ns of ho rror to portray Georg e Bus h , while the
se cond emp l o yed brig ht col o rs and upbeat music to portray Mic ha el Duk a k i s . The
jar ring incong rue nc e of the pairing caused the ads to fall flat in comm un i c a t ing a
coh e rent theme . 9It is pos s i b le to evok e a genr e very qui c kl y.If the proper ele me nt s
ar e pres e nt , it can easily be done in a matter of se cond s . But while vie wers might
rea di l y recogni z e a suc ces s i o n ofth r ee- s e cond vid eo clips by genr e, a series of suc h
cli p s , ea ch evoking a different genr e, would tran s l a t e into an unfamiliar and incom-
prehe ns i b le who l e , le a ving vie wers with little to struc tur e their interpret a ti on ofth e
ad’ s message.
Some might see the Dukakis ads as product comparisons.Ifthis was the inten-
tion, however, the ads could have embraced much more effectively the type of
audiovisual conventions that would underscore comparison.A Bush ad from the
same campaign (“Crime Quiz II”),for example,juxtaposed pictures ofeach candi-
date with a narrator posing questions such as “which candidate opposed the death
penalty?”The Dukakis picture would then be“pulled”forward and enlarged on the
screen,visually reinforcing the comparative claim. No such explicitly comparative
visual grammar marked the Dukakis ads.10
In visual media, genres rely on the synergy of several reinforcing stimuli. The
music and sound effects matter,as do the rhythms and tones ofthe narrator’s voice.
More importantly,as Arthur Asa Berger notes,“we quickly learn the conventions of
a genre and expect to find them.”11 Viewers come to recognize what the pictures
“should be” from their sense of how an announcer’s voice sounds and how the
music goes.Viewers ofa horror story,for example, are aware of imminent danger
as the musical score becomes tenser and the scene darkens,even before the monster
appears, because they know how the pieces fit together.Similarly, a sparse, high-
tech soundtrack can combine with a narrative to evoke science fiction and the
future.Words,sounds,and pictures work together in evoking a “genre.”These are
the shared audio-visual conventions of popular culture in our time.
The appeal of gene ric associ a t io n was not lost on Georg e Bus h ’s advis o rs whe n
th e y sought to wrap the vic e pres i d ent in the aura ofClint Eastwood’ s actio n hero,
“D ir ty Har ry” Cal la h a n . In August of 19 8 8 , Bus h ’s speechwrit ing team was sharpl y
di vid ed over whe th e r to includ e in the vic e pres i d ent ’s accepta n c e speech at the
Repu b lican Nat io nal Convent io n the now infamous line,“rea d my lips:no new taxes ! ”
“St upid and irres p ons i b le , ”ar g u e d Ric ha r d Darma n , who had been des i g na t ed edi t or
in chi e fofthe speech .S peechwrit er Peggy Noonan adm o ni s h e d the informal speech
comm i t t ee: “Wha t ever you guys do, don’t screw with these lines.”Da r man cla i m e d
that hug e bud g et deficits would be a drag on the econo my and that the “no taxes ”
pl e dg e would make governing very difficult.Ult im a t ely, what media advis o r Roger
Ailes calle d the “Clint Eastwood factor” prevai l e d: pol i t ics for Ailes was theater;Bus h
ne eded to bur y forever the “w imp factor,”and mimicking Dir ty Har ry would do it.12
PULPPOLITICS: POPULARCULTUREANDPOLITICALADVERTISING 607
The Bush team’s embrace of this particular Eastwood character illustrates the
nuanced way genre can play upon narrative.It was not just the star power of Mr.
Eastwood that Bush needed to meld with his persona.It was the Callahan character
specifically.This is why Noonan underscored the importance ofthe Callahan quote.
A candidate who evoked another Eastwood role,such as the male lead in Bridges of
Madison Countywould most likely prompt a different audience response.
Whether through limited intertextuality or full-blown generic evocation,popu-
lar genres are particularly relevant to political advertising, because they call our
attention to the combination of audio,visual,and narrative elements that readily
become recognizable to mass audiences.These are the very same elements available
to ad producers.13
EXTANTAPPROACHESTO CAMPAIGNADVERTISING
Televised political advertisements have been a feature of American presidential
campaigns since 1952. The interest of scholars and journalists in televised political
advertising has built gradually since the 1970s. In 1976, Thomas Patterson and
Robert McClure publishedThe Unseeing Eye,which asserted that ads actually pro-
vided more information on campaign“issues”than did television news.14Yet such
ads still received only scattered attention in the academy,because early studies of
media effects suggested that campaign spots made little difference in the outcomes
ofelections.Even so,campaign managers put more and more oftheir resources into
televised appeals, mostly in 60- and 30-second spots. By the 1980s, the topic of
political ads had at last caught on in the academy,as it boiled over in the press and
campaigns. By 1988, academics around the nation had launched a plethora of
research projects on political advertising.
Two ofthe most prominent research programs have been those ofKathleen Hall
Jamieson and the efforts of a cadre of scholars working under the rubric of the
National Political Advertising Research Project.15Thanks especially to Jamieson,we
now know a good deal about the historical details of campaign advertising in the
United States. Because of a profusion of campaign books by journalists, we also
know a fair amount about the strategies and tactics ofcampaign advertisers.16For
all the efforts of researchers and reporters, though, what do we know about how
political advertising works (i.e.,affects viewers)?
The Dichotomies of Extant Research
Ma ny ac ademic (and popular) discussions of po l i tical ads rest on two
di c ho t omi e s : pos i t ive/ n e gat ive and issue / i m a g e. 17 Neit h e r,I would argue, provid es
the basis for satis f a ctory underst a n d i n g s or gene ral i z a b le inferenc es abou t how pol i t -
ical ads work. These analytical fram e works lack cla r it y and stabil i t y.For exa m p l e ,
608 RHETORIC& PUBLICAFFAIRS
one vie wer’ s “i m a g e”is another’ s “i s s ue . ”Cle verly cons t ruc ted spot s , suc h as the Bus h
ca m p a i g n’s “R evol ving Door” ad, blur the distin c tio n betw een issue and image as
th e y wea ve policy claims with cha r acter assault.Some of the most devas t a t ing and
na s t y attacks in pol i t ic s , mo reover,ar e made in ads with a “pos i t ive”tone , no t a b ly
se veral 1996 Cli n t on- G o re spots that Darrell West has calle d “pos i t ive attack ads . ”18
The ads emp ha s i z ed Cli n t on adm i n i s t rat io n initia t ives while noting the oppos i t io n
of“D ol e - G i n g ric h. ”The language ofthe ads was stri ct ly limited to policy comp a r i-
so n, yet the implicit message was that oppone nts of the pres i d ent ’s policies were
cr ue l and heartl e s s .
Frank Bio cca des c r ib es the issue / i m a g e distin c tio n as “a preoccu p a t io n, so me
mi g ht say obs e s s i o n”within the literat ur e. 19 He notes that it is oft en accomp a n i e d by
an implicit assum p tio n that issue ads and image ads gene rat e different psycho l o gic a l
proces s e s . Few ads , ho wever,fa l l cle a n l y into one category or the other.And wit h i n
ea ch category, ne it h e r issue nor image ads are cons i s t ent in their persua s i ve
ap proache s . Even if suc h dema r ca t io ns were tena b le , th e y would not off er muc h of
exp l a n a t ory val ue . Kno wing that an ad is an “i s s ue ”ad or an “i m a g e”ad may tell us
little abou t what it means to vie wers.
The same can be said ofthe pos i t ive/ n e gat ive dicho t omy.“N egat ive”ads enc omp a s s
ma n y things. The y can be perso nal attacks . The y can comp a r e candidate pos i t io ns . If
an yth i n g ,“pos i t ive”ads are even more diverse . A given advertis e me nt , mo reover,ma y
comb ine several “ne gat ive”fea t ur es with other,mo re “pos i t ive”one s .
Jamieson20argues that “negative”information (1) carries more weight in evalu-
ative thinking than “positive” information,21 (2) is better able to alter existing
impressions than positive information,22and (3) is easier to recall.23Samuel Kernell
suggests that negatively aroused voters are more likely than their satisfied peers to
turn out on election day.24 (For an opposite conclusion,however,see the work of
StephenAnsolabehre and Shanto Iyengar.)25
But, as Jam i e s o n goes on to note, fea r can short- c i r cuit cogni t ive proces s i n g .26
And while fear can be a res ult ofne gat ive ads , it is not requi r ed ofne gat ivit y;di s gu s t ,
di s d a i n , and ridicule are also comm o nl y provok ed by “ne gat ive”sp ot s . Whe re fear is
pres e nt , ho wever,Jam i e s o n notes that the “avai l a b il i t y heur is t ic ”27 —that is,the pri-
ma cy of ea s i l y retrie vab le informa t io n (suc h as that containing strong emo t io na l
cont ent)—can drive eval ua t io n. Whe n this is so,ne gat ivit y per se is not the deter-
mining factor.28 Rat h e r,it is the way a campaign spot can horrify a vie wer— a ccom-
pl i s h e d by adopting the very techn i q ues of a Hol lyw ood horror film.
Typologies in Extant Research
Rhetoricians have devoted considerable effort to the study of genre,29 but they
have focused their analyses in terms of the recurring contexts and purposes of
rhetorical acts.Much can be learned from this approach about matters including
PULPPOLITICS: POPULARCULTUREANDPOLITICALADVERTISING 609
the evolution ofform and style.Yet,as discussed earlier,this approach is not geared
toward probing the effect ofthe evocation ofgenres ofpopular culture within spe-
cific forms of political communication such as campaign ads.Some scholars who
have studied political advertising have used a “generic”approach to ads, but that
approach has been based on a notion ofgenre used exclusively as a category or clas-
sification scheme,and not as a source ofwidely shared cultural communication and
meaning.
Bruce Gronbeck categorizes negative ads as assaultive,implicative,and compar-
ative,based on the nature of attack contained in the spot.30 L.Patrick Devlin also
offers a typology based on ads produced between 1952 and 1984, including cate-
gories such as cinéma vérité,documentary,and man-in-the-street—but he does not
explicitly consider the use of popular genres as such,especially as conduits for the
substantive meaning derived from ads.31 While Karen Johnson-Cartee and Gary
Copeland categorize ads in several ways,including in terms ofthematic design and
dramatic narrative techniques, they do not explicitly consider popular genres
either.32DarrellWest’s analysis of advertising in presidential campaigns since 1952
categorizes ads in terms of issues and campaign appeals.33 Montague Kern offers
several types of positive and negative ads based on the ads’emotional appeals and
does examine audio-visual production techniques,though not explicitly in terms of
existing genres ofpopular culture.34
The Missing Point
How genres get evoked has not been a concern ofthe academic literature on how
political advertising works.In general,those scholars who,like Kern,35have shown
the greatest sensitivity to the nuances ofaudiovisual production have isolated pro-
duction techniques and have not operationalized genres holistically to reflect the
“top-down”way they evoke associations.Lynda Lee Kaid and Dorothy K.Davidson
offer a detailed treatment offilm and video production techniques deeply grounded
in film theory and empirical research.Although they note the significance ofcam-
era angles, music, editing techniques, and special effects, they do not explicitly
address the way that these factors are packaged together by genres in order to evoke
complex yet conventional understandings.36 West identifies visual images, visual
text,music and sounds,color,editing,audiotape voice-overs,and code words as the
ways political messages are conveyed.37 He notes that black and white images are
used to create“sinister”impressions ofcandidates.
Yet, while bla ck and whi t e images were pres e nt and cont rib uted a sinister eff ect in
the ads he discussed and are wid ely emp l o yed in campaign spot s , bla ck and whi t e
im a g ery alone is neit h e r neces s a r y nor suf f i c i e nt to crea t e a sinister impres s i o n. The
Bush campaign’s (Bos t on) “H ar bor” ad was filmed in col o r,and can easily be seen as
cr ea t ing a sinister or frig ht ening image. Ind eed, that ad’ s use of sl i m y greens and
610 RHETORIC& PUBLICAFFAIRS
pu trid oran g e tones was cent ral in conveying the horrors ofenvir onm e ntal degrada -
tio n. A series ofNix on ads from the 1968 campaign fea t ur ed a rap i d - f i r e suc ces s i o n
ofim a g es ofyou th and urban tur mo il whe re col o r was used to undersc ore a sinister
cha o s . A 1996 Dol e - K emp ad (“The Stakes ”) attacking Bil l Cli n t on on drug s used
col o r to comm un i c a t e the fea r ful halluc i n o genic imagery of dr ug - i n d uc ed altered
st a t es . At the same tim e , bla ck and whi t e images do not exclus i vely convey sinister
im p res s i o ns . Freque nt l y,ca n d i d a t e bio grap hy spots fea t ur e bla ck and whi t e stil l pic-
tur es , oft en panned by the camera to crea t e a sense ofmo t io n.
What is missing is an appreciation ofthe ways in which the various components
of ad production worktogetherto create impressions in the minds ofviewers.It is
not merely a black and white picture,but a picture with a soundtrack appropriate
to a Hollywood horror film and an appropriate narrative frame that in combination
produce the important effects ofpolitical advertising.Extant analytical approaches
have been bedeviled by their failure to appreciate the holistic way in which ads
evoke genre.The search for units ofmeaning,when cast explicitly as non-holistic38
is likely to overlook the significance ofgenre’s holistic functioning.
Perhaps 1988’s most memo rab le ad (“Tank Rid e”) fea t ur ed Demo cr at ic candidate
Mic ha el Dukakis perche d atop an M-1 tank awkw a r dly “dr ivin g ”ar ound a Gene ral
Dynamics plant in Sterling Heig ht s , Mic hi g an . Whe n ABC News corres p ond ent
Ric ha r d Thr elk eld analyz ed “Tank Rid e, ”his voic e- o ver deno u n c ed the ad’ s argumen-
ta t ive claims (Duk a k i s ’s oppos i t io n to var ious wea p ons and military actio ns ) , but did-
n’t even me nt io n the satir ical natur e of the ad. 39 This is des p i t e the fact that
sa t ir e— s k i l lf u l ly evok ed throu g h the rus t y squeal ofthe tank as aural punctua t io n for
ea ch ofthe ad’ s ostens i b le claims and,of cou r se , the unflattering image of Duk a k i s
hi m s e lf—so cle a r ly influe nc ed vie wer res p onse to the ad. 40 That gene ric appeal has
rema i n e d to this day.Ind eed in 1995,fu l ly seven yea r s after “Tank Rid e”ai r ed, the Wal l
Stree t Jour nal could report that come dian Jay Leno had “propos e d a new bum p er
st ic ker for Gene ral Colin Powell: ‘I look bett er in a tank than Duk a k i s . ’” 41
Jamieson’s extensive focus group research into how viewers processed television
“adwatches”(specifically including the Threlkeld piece) led to the development of
an explicitly visual grammar that has been adopted by ad analysts across the
nation.42The grammar is a substantial improvement in the way in which ad critics
approach the visual. Yet neither the visual grammar nor the adwatches it has
inspired have addressed the role that popular genres play in political ads.This is
despite the fact that Jamieson herself is an astute analyst of the subtlety of audio-
visual production and the intertextuality ofpolitical advertisements.
One should not sell short the extant scho l a r sh i p . Sc a t t ered parts of recent
in q ui r ies do broach ele me nts ofa genr e approach to pol i t ical ads . Negat ive Poli t ic a l
Advertis i n g is a good exa m p l e . Joh n s o n- C ar tee and Copeland ident ify both the
“R evol ving Door” ad and the “H ar bor ”s pot as examples ofne gat ive ads that emp l o y
the “tran s f er ”t h em a tic des i g n. In both cases,th e y call the specific sub var iant “event s
PULPPOLITICS: POPULARCULTUREANDPOLITICALADVERTISING 611
that happene d on your watch. ”The y argue that “tran s f er” is one offi ve “st a n d a r di z ed
th e ma t ic des i g ns whi c h have eme rg ed in the dissemi n a t io n of sub s t a n t ive negat ive
ar g u m e nt s . ”43 The y explain that the des i g ns work throu g h managing conf l i c t and
conf l i c t res o l utio n (though they do not say muc h abou t how) . In another sectio n,
th e y note the salienc e of pol i t ical symb ol i s m ; and els e whe re, th e y writ e abou t
ap peals based on fea r .44 Overal l, Joh n s o n- C ar tee and Copeland off er an ext ens i ve
ca t a l o g ofth e ma t ic de s i gn s ,s tyli s t ic emp ha s e s , and sub s t a n t ive foci for pol i t ical ads .
Suc h conc epts begin to add r ess the dimens i o ns of sy mb ol i s m , st yle , and narrat ive
that figure promi n e nt l y in genr e theorie s .
One may leave aside that this approach lacks the parsi m o ny ofgenr e analysi s . And
Negat ive Poli t ical Advertis i n g does begin to get at parts ofwhat pol i t ical spots do wit h
popular genr es . Ins o far as the book ’s arguments persua de, th e y help to build the case
for analyzing the genr es ofpol i t ical ads . Yet, for all its merit s , the book mi s s es the main
poi n t ab ou t genr es in pol i t ical advertis i n g : genr es are less standard symb ols or theme s
ta k en two or three at a time than they are whole fabrics ofpres e nt a t io n and persua -
s i on .G en res are netw orks ofin t eracting convent io ns at all levels ofar g u m e nt and aes -
th e tic s , not lists of typical des i g ns or appea l s . Ge nr es are prepa cka g ed bun d les of
th e me , emo t io n, evid enc e, and exp erie nc e— i f not alwa ys actio n. Whe n gene ric con-
vent io ns are evok ed by pol i t ical advertis e me nt s , th e refore, sc ho l a r s can igno re them
onl y at the peril ofmi s r epres e nt ing what and how the ads actua l ly comm un i c a t e.
We would do better to understand that voters rejected Michael Dukakis because
they were horrified of his becoming president than to say simply that voters had
been persuaded by arguments to vote against him and for Bush.Not only does this
line of argument take the evident genres of the Bush ads into account,but it gives
us a superior sense ofhow viewers as voters could override their highly“negative”
feelings about Bush to vote against Dukakis.“Informed”by such Bush ads,many
viewers (including some who originally supported Dukakis) were (literally) horri-
fied by the prospect ofDukakis misdirecting the military,loosing violent criminals,
and degrading the environment.45To treat this,with Johnson-Cartee and Copeland,
as a concern for“what happened on [the Dukakis] watch”is less to understate the
situation than to misconstrue its overall form and substance.
GENRES, MEANING,AND NARRATIVESTRUCTURING
Understanding the way the conventions of popular genres of entertainment
frame viewer response to political advertising can make an important contribution
to analyses of the persuasive role of narrative structuring in campaigns in two
important ways:First,such conventions provide the telling details that shape mean-
ing,especially emotions.The crucial connective cement that glues the components
ofcompelling narratives together is often reinforced by generic evocations.Genres
serve as emotional heuristics. The 1988 GOP attacks against Michael Dukakis,
612 RHETORIC& PUBLICAFFAIRS
whose narrative structure is forcefully analyzed by Jamieson,46were easily absorbed
by viewers more familiar with pop culture than with criminal justice policy; for
them the sense that Dukakis would turn every day intoFriday the 13th was vividly
conveyed in 30-second “trailers.”Second,the evocation of genre can help viewers
“re-construct”a compelling narrative even without being exposed to the type of
presentation of contiguous claims that marks many of the prominent case studies
in the standing literature.That is,because viewers are familiar with generic forms,
they can use those forms to reconstruct even details that have not necessarily been
presented to them.Let us consider each ofthese themes in turn.
The broad narratives ofAmerican politics over the past decade can be discerned
in some of the shifting generic referents in campaign spots. In 1988, the Bush-
Quayle team used the popular genres ofhorror and dystopia through spots such as
“Revolving Door,”(Boston) “Harbor,” and “New Jersey at Risk”to blast Michael
Dukakis on crime and the environment,while also countering his claims to com-
petence.47“Revolving Door”(the Bush campaign’s prison furlough ad) evoked the
genre of horror through stark black-and-white pictures of prison watchtowers
matched to the soundtrack ofa slasher film.“Harbor”also used the conventions of
horror,including ominous and foreboding music,stark visual imagery,and a tone
ofnarration and narrative strongly consistent with horror.In 1992, the Bush team
reprised many of these same themes in the dystopia “Arkansas,”which featured a
barren landscape and ominous storm clouds to signal the imminent danger of
Clintonism.In 1994, the genre of tabloid TV news,with its emphasis on the sala-
cious and the scandalous, had become recognizable enough that evocation of its
generic form powerfully communicated the charges of womanizing, fraternizing
with drug dealers,and not telling the truth in Oliver North’s attack on rival Charles
Robb’s character in the Virginia U.S. Senate race. In 1996, Richard A. Zimmer,
Republican candidate for the U.S.Senate in New Jersey,aired an ad designed to look
like a conventional television newscast. It featured a news anchorperson reading
copy (including “Fox news reports that ...”) charging his opponent with corrup-
tion and mob association, grafting on to his ad the credibility of local news.Also
during 1996, a Pat Buchanan ad used the “real-life”look and feel of the TV show
“Cops”to evoke fear and urgency over the dark side ofillegal immigration.
In the 1996 presidential campaign, the Clinton-Gore team’s strategic focus on
“soccer moms”and suburban voters found a powerful voice in the adoption ofthe
generic form offamily melodrama, which was used to portray“Dole-Gingrich”as
the sinister threat to family life and Bill Clinton as the caring and benevolent father
figure (conveniently countering charges of Clinton’s own character flaws).The ad
(“Protecting Our Values”) employed the same genre conventions,including melan-
choly solo piano (to underscore the threat) and bright soft focus (to underscore
benevolence),used in an actual melodrama (in which the President made a cameo
appearance) that aired during the winter following the campaign on the Family and