The scholars contributing to Studies of Communication in the 2012 Presidential Campaign thoroughly examine each topic, providing the reader with solid history, context, and analysis. Indeed, nontraditional topics, such as campaigning and advising by first ladies, political profiteering, and the skillful treatment of race in the 2012 Obama campaign, all entice the reader to delve deeper into the text. Thus, this must-read text is insightful and challenges all readers to consider carefully the impact of communication in political campaigns.

Presidential Studies Quarterly

Once again, Robert E. Denton, Jr., has assembled some of the top names in the field of political communication to unpack the nature and function of the 2012 presidential campaign. The result is a fine understanding of the creation, distribution, reception, and reaction to campaign messages in the 2012 context. From candidate surfacing to the broadest appeals of the campaign’s final weeks, the essential topics are all covered.

Joseph R. Blaney

In this volume, an eclectic collection of insightful scholars thoroughly examine snippets of diverse discussions that made up the 2012 Presidential Campaign. In a time of extreme division and incivility in our national dialogue, these observations can be a catalyst for positive change. Denton’s Studies of Communication in the 2012 Presidential Campaign provides an opportunity for the reader to reflect on how different communication strategies and methods affect our ability to maintain an effective political structure and improve national dialogue at a time when the quality of both is clearly at risk.

Melanie Bailey Mills, Eastern Illinois University