Study: Presidential debates mostly positive

Researchers deemed nearly 70 percent of candidates’ statements positive.

By Mary Daly

Published Feb. 22, 2008

Although presidential candidates have been negatively attacking one another in the past few weeks, an MU communications professor said this election’s debates have been the most positive seen in over 50 years.

A study conducted by MU communications professor William Benoit and graduate student Jayne Henson showed the presidential debates prior to Super Tuesday to contain mainly positive content.

In the 17 Democratic and 15 Republican debates included in the study, 68 percent of the statements made by candidates were deemed positive, a 4 percent increase from the primary debates between 1948 and 2004.

Negative statements accounted for 26 percent of the content, and 6 percent of the debates were defenses or refutations of attacks.

Benoit defines positive statements as those about oneself that say things likely to be perceived as desirable by the target audience. Positive statements are not necessarily the same for Democrats and Republicans.

Negative statements are simply attacks, according to Benoit. He said they are about one’s opponent and say things likely to be perceived as undesirable by the target audience.

Also included in the analysis were the differences between parties in the debates.

According to the study, the Democratic debates had more attacks than the Republican debates, especially as the campaign progressed. Benoit said Democrats might be attacking more often because of their tight race.

“The easiest way to suggest that I am better than my opponent is to criticize my opponent,” Benoit said. “Of course, too much criticism, or attacks that are too harsh, can backfire on the attacker. But my point is in recent weeks Democrats have had more reason to attack each other than Republicans.”

Nate Kennedy, president of the College Democrats of Missouri, agreed the Democrats are attacking more because of their lack of a frontrunner.

“I think it’s pretty even-handed,” Kennedy said. “Usually the underdog will lob more attacks than the leader, but with the polls being so unpredictable, it’s hard to tell who that is on the Democratic side.”

Democrats and Republicans were both prone to criticizing the GOP more than the Democratic Party, according to the study. Benoit said this is likely due to the low popularity of President George Bush.

Additionally, both parties discussed policy more than character.

The Democrats debated policy 82 percent of the time, while Republicans did so 67 percent of the time, according to the study.

Benoit found while both parties examine the topic of the war in Iraq, Democrats refer to it as Iraq, while Republicans talk about terrorism.

Benoit has studied presidential campaigns, including primary debates, since 1948.

“I was particularly interested in 2008 because this is the first open presidential election with no sitting president or vice president running since 1952,” Benoit said.

Trevor Turner, Disability Caucus chairman of the College Democrats of America, said he anticipates future debates to be positive, despite the tight Democratic race.

“Clinton may be critical of Obama’s campaign style, but she cannot be overly negative because that will reflect on her campaign and make her look like the sore loser,” Turner said.

Thursday night’s Democratic debate was the last one before March 4, when Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont hold their primaries.