at how these dynamics play out in what the candidates themselves say on the campaign trail.
Specifically, we analyze campaign speeches from three presidential elections, 1988, 1992 and
1996. We look at the speeches given by the candidates to determine whether candidates vary the
issues they discuss or how they discuss them depending upon the race of their audience.
Race and Campaigns
The 1964 presidential election marked a major turning point for our understanding of
race, modern campaigns and party politics. After the civil war, the Republican Party garnered
almost full support from the African American community. For many years, the party of
Abraham Lincoln was much more inclusive than the Democrats, campaigning (unsuccessfully)
for equal rights, including the right to vote (Carmines & Stimson, 1989; Bolce, De Maio &
Muzzio, 1992; Reeves, 1997). All of this began to change in the 1950s and early 1960s,
however.
1
Democratic President John F. Kennedy rhetorically championed civil rights. After
President Kennedy’s assassination, President Johnson called for the passage of a comprehensive
civil rights bill, stating that there was no better way to memorialize President Kennedy and his
work. Congress passed the legislation, and equal rights were granted to African Americans
across the country. The Democratic Party had put themselves on the same playing field on
matters of race with the Republican Party.
1
See Carmines and Stimpson (1989) for more on the evolution on racial matters within the parties leading up to
1964. The Democratic party had begun to move to a more racially liberal position (in fits and starts) prior to 1964.
In 1948, Truman sent civil rights proposals to congress and issued executive orders banning discrimination in
federal employment and segregation in the armed services. The convention adopted a civil rights plank that led to
the Dixiecrat revolt and to the party's retreat from liberal racial policy for a period. Black voters had already begun
moving into the democratic camp in 1936 support of Roosevelt as a result of New Deal policies, 1964 accelerated
this move (see Kinder and Sanders, 1986, pp 208-212). During the 1950s the Republican Party was still the more
liberal party on racial matters -- the republican platform continued to endorse racial equality and civil rights, the
republican administration supported the civil rights bills of 1957 and 1960 and sent troops to enforce desegregation
in Little Rock. However, it was clear that a major rift was present within the Democratic Party (overall one might
best characterize the party as ambivalent on racial matters -- southern dominance of racial issues within the party
Convention