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| Governor
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Introducing...The Candidate I have collected these materials from Democratic, Republican and third party nominees and independent candidates for the top-of-the-ticket general election races in each state for more than 30 years, starting in 1989. This is not a partisan endeavor; I'm interested in literature from the candidates irrespective of party. The project focuses on general introductory lit. pieces—brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, palm cards, plans, comparison pieces and even recipe cards. These can be thought of as the "introductory handshake" of campaign literature. Marshall McLuhan stated "the medium is the message." Campaigns can communicate their messages in many ways. In the digital era some campaigns even go paperless, and print literature may be neglected or an afterthought. A campaign can put up countless pages and posts on a website and social media, but the limited space afforded by a 4"x9" or 8 1/2"x11" piece of paper forces the campaign to prioritize and highlight its main points. "It's all about the paper"—and what goes on it. By giving careful attention to content and design of its lit. pieces—combining words and images in a way that interests and informs the voter—a campaign can effectively communicate its message. Indeed a brochure, palm card or flyer is in a sense a small work of art. Having an effective lit. piece or pieces should be an integral part of any campaign's outreach to voters. The primary focus of this Archive is the introductory lit. pieces that impart basic information about the candidate and his or her campaign. These are typically found in campaign headquarters, used for canvasses, and handed out to voters at rallies and events. There are many other kinds of campaign literature, ranging from detailed position papers to slick persuasion mailers often used for attacks to GOTV pieces which primarily instruct the voter on election dates and how to vote. Across the top of this page are links to pages for each state showing literature from the top of the ticket races over more than a decade from 2009 to 2022. Along the left of this page, by clicking on the x's, you can see the literature from each cycle. From the cycle pages you can access pages on each state contest as well as pages showing the candidates' literature by party (also see the bottom of this page). On each contest page, I have put together some notes and links (>, +) on the race to provide context and perspective. The starting point though is the images of the literature on the right side of the pages. Clicking on these images one gets to pages showing the full lit. piece (and where available multiple lit. pieces) as well as the extracted text. * * *
The project is
very much an ongoing
endeavor. In the last
few years I have started
scanning the literature
for each cycle and
putting together the
pages; working backwards
I have reached 2010.
That leaves a two
decades to go—1989 to
2009 are still in boxes.
This is a
massive amount of
material still to
scan and it
takes much
additional work to
produce the race
overviews.
I welcome your feedback. Any suggestions on funding or grants to support this work would be helpful. I'd also welcome any suggestions or comments you may have on the format and utility of the Archive. Technical support to improve the back-end of these pages would be most helpful, currently the menus must be individually updated. Finally, if you have any literature that might be of interest, let me know. * * *
Since I started the
project, much has changed in
campaign communications;
most obviously websites now
provide an easy way for
citizens to find out about
campaigns and social media
have assumed increasingly
importance. The ascendance
of the web has led to small
and large changes in
campaign literature.
Tri-fold brochures have
given way more and more to
palm cards. Graphic
design has advanced,
bringing a broad range of
fonts and font treatments
and more abundant and varied
use of photographs. The 2022
cycle saw much more frequent
use of QR codes than in past
cycles.Depending on the resources and priorities of a campaign, its literature may be beautifully designed and printed on heavy paper stock or more hurriedly thrown together and run off on regular photocopy paper. Note, however, that a well-designed, informative black-and-white sheet can be as effective as a slick brochure. Even in this digital era, even on a low-budget campaign, print literature should be a part of any campaign's overall communications effort. I hope that this archive will serve as a resource for researchers. A content analysis of these materials may offer insights into how campaign literature is evolving over time and as well as what the differences are from cycle to cycle. For example, a most simple analysis of the 2020 Senate lit. pieces found the average piece had about 273 words (+). It seems likely that pre-Internet pieces had substantially more words. Broadly, text in a brochure or palm card covers two major dimensions: a candidate's experience and qualifications and his or her positions; the proportion devoted to each varies according to the candidate. Many of these pieces have very little substance–sometimes just a few bullet points that it would be hard for any voter to disagree with. The aim may be to pique interest and point people to the campaign website and social media. One expects analysis of the text will reveal differences among several dimensions. The major themes and issues emphasized from election cycle to election cycle are likely to be different. For example, immediately following 9/11, national security was a major concern; in recent cycles jobs and the economy have been key themes. In 2020 the pandemic was a major focus. Republican and Democratic materials show differences in the issues addressed and language used. Literature from governor and Senate races highlights different sets of issues. Depending on the state, party and ideological labels ("conservative" or "independent") may be important. Other words such as "values," "principles," "leader," "courage" and "fighter" may appear frequently. The photographs, images and graphics used provide another area for analysis. The most basic image is a headshot of the candidate. Other images convey more information, for example featuring the candidate in an office or outdoor setting. Adding yet more information are photos of the candidate interacting with other people, for example conversing with one or several people—these can be unidentified voters or prominent officials. Literature frequently includes family shots, typically a formal group shot. The family dog often makes an appearance. Archival shots of the candidate in younger days may also be included. Sometimes there are solo shots of other people, for example endorsers or the opponent. Literature also includes stock images such as mountains, farmland or energy facilities used as wallpaper, and sometimes composite images. A content analysis might consider whether the images include symbols such as flags or guns or pets or military imagery. Logos offer another area of possible analysis. Some logos include the state outline or state symbols; red, white and blue are obvious colors, but there are regional differences (for example green in Vermont and warm colors in New Mexico) and recently there seems to be use of green and blue combinations. In sum, printed campaign literature still serves an important purpose, and this project seeks to showcase and provide insights on these materials. |
 Presidential 2024 2020 2016 2012 2008 1992 1988 1984 (D) 1976 YOU can help! If you have access to or can obtain lit. from current or past top of the ticket races, or if you're going through old files and come across something that might be of interest, please reach out to me at the address/phone/email below. Your help can make a difference! |
Literature by Party
| 2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
| Democratic
|
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
|
| Republican |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Third
Party/Indep. |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
U.S. Senate Races
Literature by Party
| 2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
| Democratic |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
X | X |
||||
| Republican |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
X | X | ||||
| Third
Party/Indep. |
X | X | |
X | X | |
X | X | X |
| Margin
of Victory See also: Campaign Managers 2018 Year of the Woman Candidate If you have or can send us a piece that is missing, please mail examples of literature, if possible two (2) of each in a flat envelope, to: Eric M. Appleman 767 Radcliffe Ave. Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Questions, comments, please call or email: 310 496-9633 action08 @ gmail - You can return to this page from anywhere in the archive by clicking the top banner. If you see a broken link, please send an email. - |
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