This study examines
political campaign videos from winning candidates in contested state legislative
races during the 2022 US election, and compares typology of political topics and personal characteristics communicated by
each candidate. 172 candidates were selected for the study across forty-three
states. Transcripts of each candidate’s video
were categorized pertaining to political/societal topics, personal
characteristics/attributes, mentions of national narratives, and mentions of
bipartisanship or mending the political divide. Key findings show Republicans
were 9.6 times more likely to invoke national political narratives whereas
Democrats were 4.3 times more likely to reference phrases of bipartisanship.
Further, the most commonly mentioned political topics for Democrats were
education, abortion rights, and gun violence/safety compared to that of
Republicans being education, taxes, and law enforcement. Additionally, the
study suggests Republicans focus more on ascribing personal characteristics in
their campaign videos whereas Democrats focus more on emphasizing societal
outcomes.
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