Seeing Spots: A Functional Analysis of Presidential Television Advertisements, 1952-1996 (review)

484 Rhetoric & Public Affairs reallocated as the Internet engenders the pattern of "cocooning," or holing up in front of our computers? And, what of a cyber-democracy in which the gap between information "haves" and "have-nots" accelerates? Do we move toward a digital aristocracy or, by encouraging online voting, do we create ephemeral digital plebiscites? Finally, what becomes of citizenship in the age of the Netizen? Has the Netizen completed his or her duties by visiting a Web site, posting to a Usenet newsgroup, or chatting in real-time with a friend? Time, as the saying goes, will tell. But even here, one senses the approaching anachronism of our stable categories in the age of the Internet. Notes 1. Thomas W. Benson, "The First E-Mail Election: Electronic Networking and the Clinton Campaign," in Bill Clinton on Stump, State, and Stage: The Rhetorical Road to the White House, ed. Stephen A. Smith (Fayetteville, Ark.: University of Arkansas Press, 1994), 323. 2. Sebastian Mallaby, "McCain's Ε-Politics," Washington Post, March 3, 2000, A17. 3. Jim Drinkard, "Ε-Politics: One Click Can Reach Millions," USA Today, August 31, 1999, Al. 4. Mallaby, "McCain's Ε-Politics," A17. 5. Diane Francis, "People Power Makes a Comeback Courtesy of the Nets," Ottawa Citizen, February 16, 2000, All. 6. Mark Poster, "Cyberdemocracy: Internet and the Public Sphere," in Internet Culture, ed. David Porter (New York: Routledge, 1997), 205. 7. See, for example, S. Elizabeth Bird, "Chatting on Cynthia's Porch: Creating Community in an EMail Fan Group," Southern Communication Journal 65 (1999): 49-65; Christine Scodari, "'No Politics Here': Age and Gender in Soap Opera 'Cyberfandom'," Women's Studies in Communication 21 (1998): 168-87. 8. Poster, "Cyberdemocracy," 212. 9. Poster, "Cyberdemocracy," 212. Seeing Spots: A Functional Analysis of Presidential Television Advertisements, 19521996 . By William L. Benoit. Westport: Praeger, 1999; pp. xii + 238. $59.95. Amidst this year's presidential campaigning, William L. Benoit's Seeing Spots is not to be missed by political analysts of presidential rhetoric and interested viewers of campaign commercials on television. Spanning the years 1952 to 1996, Benoit examines presidential television ads in light of the enormous impact these spots have on their intended audiences and on the election process as a whole. Toss in the millions of dollars spent in the slick production of these ads, and the compelling rationale for this book is clear. Benoit, who is professor of communication at the University of Missouri, builds upon his previous scholarship and extends the Book Reviews 485 analysis of such campaign spots in important ways. First, Benoit includes spots from an impressive number of years. Second, Benoit expands the type and focus of commercial to be analyzed. Third, Benoit categorizes the commercials into subgroups that allow for a more complex analysis and a nuanced understanding of the persuasive strategies at hand. One of the contributions Benoit makes here to the extant body of literature on television-based presidential campaigning is that he includes the analysis of ads made for both primary and general campaigns. Benoit accounts for the sway these spots have on independent voters, and he includes the often overlooked spots of third-party candidates. William Safire, the New York Times' political columnist, recently commented that during presidential campaigns, "The average voter can go either way." Benoit supports that outlook with exhaustive data. Benoit divides the central, "functional" components of the analysis of spots into three key modes: acclaiming, attacking, and defending. Acclaims are "self-praise or positive remarks," attacks are "negative remarks," and defenses deal with "image repair" (16-20). In addition to acclaims, attacks, or defenses, the functional theory of campaign discourse enables a further subdivision into what Benoit calls themes, "or parts of the ad that addressed a coherent idea" (20). He also divides "candidates' statements ... into those that address policy and those that concern character" (7). Policy remarks entail "past deeds, future plans, and general goals," while character comments feature "personal qualities, leadership ability, and ideals" (12). Each theme is judged as either relating to a governmental policy topic or to the topic of a candidate's character. Benoit's analysis of these presidential TV spots allows readers to gain new insights into subtle content...