Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Hahn, Dan F.

Abstract

In the spring of 1992, Democratic candidate Bill Clinton began to slip in the polls during his quest for the presidency, primarily because of negative publicity surrounding character issues. To counteract the problem, he embraced a radical campaign overhaul, "The Manhattan Project," designed by his ambitious young strategists. The plan was to strengthen his campaign theme, and to portray him as a middle-class (as opposed to elitist) candidate. Ten of Clinton's formal speeches, five from before the change in strategy and five from after, are the primary research material investigated in this study. The speeches are compared through a modified content analysis of selected words and themes, and through a qualitative analysis based on current theories in political and campaign rhetoric of what constitutes a successful campaign, including evaluation of theme, symbolism, imagery, contextuality, and constraints, in an effort to determine if the strategy change was effective.

Extent

112 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1996.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT15308

Format

pdf

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