Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2018

Publication Source

Sage Open

Abstract

This article analyzes the strategic allocation of presidential campaign visits in 2016. In particular, we test whether each campaign disproportionately targeted its presidential versus vice presidential candidates’ visits toward voters with whom they shared a salient demographic or political characteristic. Our purpose in doing so is to discern whether—and, if so, among which groups—the campaigns perceived the candidates as having a strategic advantage in appealing to affiliated voters. To this end, we analyze an original database of 2016 campaign visits that includes local population characteristics for each host site. Our results indicate that each ticket’s visits were highly coordinated across states, but frequently divergent within states. At the substate level, we find several systematic differences in the populations visited by presidential versus vice presidential candidates—in some cases aligning with a candidate’s personal characteristics. We discuss these findings’ implications with respect to campaign strategy and vice presidential selection.

ISBN/ISSN

2158-2440

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

Document is made available in compliance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC-BY).

Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

Sage Publications

Peer Reviewed

yes

Keywords

political science, social science, U.S. presidency, U.S. vice presidency, campaigns and elections, political parties, political behavior, political geography, campaign visits

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