2nd Edition
Campaigning for President 2012 Strategy and Tactics
In this important and timely volume, Dennis W. Johnson has assembled an outstanding team of political scientists and political professionals to examine one of the fiercest and most closely fought presidential elections of our time. Like its predecessor, Campaigning for President 2008, Campaigning for President 2012: Strategy and Tactics focuses on political management. It is written by both elections/campaign scholars and practitioners, who highlight the role of political consultants and campaigns while also emphasizing the strategy and tactics employed by the candidates, the national political parties, and outside interests. The contributors explore the general mood of the electorate in the 2012 election, the challenges Obama faced after his first term, the primaries, money, communication, the important issues of the election, and finally the election itself.
1. The Election of 2012 (Dennis W. Johnson); Part 1: The Primaries; 2. The Challenges Facing Obama (David R. Rehr); 3. The Republican Primary Season: Strategic Positioning in the GOP Field (Michael Burton); Part 2: Money, Communication, and Issues; 4. The Money Race: A New Era of Unlimited Funding? (Anthony Corrado); 5. Advances in Campaign Technology (Julie Germany); 6. Political Advertising: When More Meant Less (Evan Tracey); 7. The Issues (Charles B. Cushman); 8. Jobs and the Economy: Campaign Rhetoric and Reality (Henry Sun and Dennis Johnson); Part 3: The General Election; 9. Obama Campaigns for Re-election (Tad Devine); 10. Outside Voices: Super PACs, Parties and Other Non-Candidate Actors (Stephen K. Medvic); 11. Romney for President: The Last 20th Century Campaign (Tom Edmonds); 12. Democratic Strategy and Tactics During the General Election (Matthew Streb); 13. Twelve for 2012: Consequential Choices by the Obama and Romney Presidential Campaigns (Michael Cornfield); Appendices: A. Timeline of the 2012 Presidential Campaign; B. The Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates; C. Campaign Organizations and Consultants; D. Primary and Caucus Results; E. General Election Results; F. Campaign Spending; G. Selected Campaign Advertisement Scripts; H. Remembering the 2012 Presidential Election
Biography
Dennis W. Johnson is professor of Political Management at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. He is the author of a number of works on government, politics, campaigns and public policy, including No Place for Amateurs: How Political Consultants Are Reshaping American Democracy, 2nd ed. (2007), Congress Online: Bridging the Gap between Citizens and their Legislators (2004), The Laws that Shaped America: Fifteen Acts of Congress and Their Lasting Impact (2009), and Campaigning in the Twenty-first Century (2011). He is also editor of and contributor to the Routledge Handbook on Political Management (2008) and Campaigning for President 2008: Strategy and Tactics, New Voices and New Techniques (2009). All of his books were published by Routledge. During the 2010-2011 academic year, he was Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. He has served as director of the Masters of Legislative Affairs program, associate dean and interim executive director of the Graduate School of Political Management. He has also been a political consultant, specializing in candidate and opposition research for Democratic senatorial and gubernatorial candidates.
"Johnson's book offers a timely look at the 2012 campaign. The chapters, written by a mix of widely-recognized practitioners and academics, provide a thorough assessment of the campaign from start to finish, including key sections on critical topics from money and communication to parties and candidate performance. Its easy style and rich empirical data are sure to make it essential reading for those interested in campaign politics."
—Michael Parkin, Oberlin College
"Campaigning for President 2012: Strategies and Tactics is a terrific collection of chapters by many leading academics as well as those who have been in the trenches of campaigns. Dennis Johnson has assembled it all -- from the primaries and Super PACs to the issues, advertising strategy and technological advances. Any student of elections will want to read this book."
—David Dulio, Oakland University
"Dennis Johnson has drawn together a remarkable combination of prominent academics and experienced campaign professionals to describe and explain the 2012 presidential selection process. The results are full of fascinating details, real insights, and analysis that will be of interest not just to scholars and students but to political practitioners and interested citizens as well."
—Cal Jillson, Southern Methodist University
"This book provides excellent coverage of the 2012 election. Featuring internationally-renowned academics and political practitioners, it presents valuable information about the context in which the election was fought, the money chase, and the strategies and tactics the candidates and their supporters used to engage and turnout voters. Readers will find the insights presented in this volume useful for understanding future elections."
—Paul S. Herrnson, University of Maryland
