Republican campaign rhetoric: Reflections of a meaner, tougher America

This article examines some Republican communication behaviors that account, in part, for accusations that the use of negative strategies was unprecedented during the 1988 presidential campaign. It also explores some of the effects of those strategies on political communication behavior during the first year of the Bush administration. It is suggested that a kind of systemic demagoguery may have produced Campaign ‘88 and its legacy. Parts of that system include the process, the polls, the packagers, the press, and the public. The paper concludes with some suggestions for modifying the campaign system to discourage demagogic communication.