Publications

  • “Testing Overall and Synergistic Campaign Effects in a Partisan Statewide Election,” Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 2 (June 2018), pp. 361-379. Although studies based on field experiments and large-N surveys have enhanced our understanding of how campaigns affect U.S. elections, few of these projects have (1) considered the synergistic effects of distinct aspects of the campaign, (2) focused on statewide, partisan elections, or (3) considered the durability of any estimated campaign effects. We rely on a massive field experiment from the 2014 Texas gubernatorial campaign to assess the individual, synergistic, and collective impact of a variety of outreach modes on the electorate. The data demonstrate some durable synergistic and overall campaign effects on voters’ attitudes toward the sponsoring candidate, with lesser effects on turnout. In addition, while the results indicate that television is rightly considered the most effective mover of voters, radio and Internet advertising also have notable effects and may, in fact, deliver a better return on investment.

  • Turnaround on Abortion. An in-depth analysis of changes in abortion attitudes from 1992 to 2006. Over the last fifteen or so years, the climate surrounding the abortion issue has shifted dramatically. As grisly details of partial-birth abortion procedures replaced confrontational (and often violent) clinic protests on the evening news, voters seemed to have changed their minds about who the “abortion extremists” were. June, 2007.
  • “Survey Finds Americans Support Early Learning.” News & Issues, publication of Columbia University National Center for Children in Poverty. Winter 2003. Vol 13:1.
  • “Who Will Reconnect with the People: Republicans, Democrats, or None of the Above?” Americans Talk Issues Foundation, August, 1995. Co-authored with Fred Steeper, Alan Kay, Stan Greenberg, and Hazel Henderson.
  • “Who Will Reconnect with the People: Republicans, Democrats, or None of the Above?” Americans Talk Issues Foundation, August, 1995. Co-authored with Fred Steeper, Alan Kay, Stan Greenberg, and Hazel Henderson.
  • “Disapproval as a Key Indicator,” a multivariate analysis of the early Clinton and Bush presidencies. The Polling Report, 28 June 1993. Co-authored with Fred Steeper.

Academic Conference Papers

  • “Priming and Issue Agendas in American Campaigns.” Paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 1998. Co-authored with John Petrocik and Fred Steeper.