The Expanding Cult of Candidate Personality: An
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Communications THE EXPANDING CULT OF CANDIDATE PERSONALITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CONTENT ANALYSIS OF GENDER AND RACE IN POLITICAL ADVERTISING OF MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES A Dissertation in Mass Communications by Nadia Ivette Martínez-Carrillo Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2013 The dissertation of Nadia Ivette Martínez-Carrillo was reviewed and approved* by the following: Colleen Connolly-Ahern Associate Professor of Communications Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Marie Hardin Associate Dean for Graduate Studies John S. Nichols Professor Emeritus of Communications Matthew Restall Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History Amit Schejter Associate Professor of Communications *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii Abstract The 2006 Mexican presidential election and the 2008 U.S. presidential election are valuable opportunities for cross-cultural comparative research. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, a woman and an African American man, were two candidates in the United States. Patricia Mercado, a woman and strong defender of minorities’ rights, was one of the candidates in Mexico. This dissertation used a comparative ethnographic analysis of these candidates’ political advertisements to identify the framing devices that female and minority candidates utilized in their self-presentations to audiences. The findings show that candidates in both countries use similar frames and tend to emphasize personality traits over issues and policies. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................................................vi Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................viii Chapter I. Introduction ...............................................................................................1 Why is Comparison Important? .....................................................................1 Patricia Mercado Background........................................................................6 Hillary Clinton Background ...........................................................................8 Political Background of the 2006 Mexican Presidential Election .................10 Political Background of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election ........................17 Significance of the Study ...............................................................................20 Chapter II. Literature Review ...................................................................................22 Comparative Studies ......................................................................................22 Selection of the Theoretical Framework ........................................................24 Selection of Comparable Social Units ...................................26 Country Selection...................................................................27 Legal Framework ...................................................................27 The “Americanization of Political Advertising .............................................29 Framing and Political Advertising .................................................................33 Women in Society ..........................................................................................36 Women in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election ..............................................37 Representations of Women in the U.S. Media ...............................................38 News Coverage ......................................................................39 Political Advertising ..............................................................40 African Americans in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election ............................40 Representations of African Americans in the U.S. Media .....42 Representations of Indigenous Peoples in the Media ....................................43 Representations of Native Americans in the U.S. Media ......43 Women in Mexico During the Colonial Period .............................................45 African Women ......................................................................46 Indigenous Women ................................................................48 European Women...................................................................51 Women in Contemporary Mexico .................................................................54 Women in the 2006 Mexican Presidential Election .......................................55 Representations of Women in the Mexican Media ........................................56 African Mexicans in the 2006 Mexican Election ..........................................58 Representations of African Mexicans in the Mexican Media .....................................................................................60 Indigenous peoples in the 2006 Mexican Election ........................................61 Representations of Indigenous Peoples in the Mexican Media .....................................................................................62 Research Questions ........................................................................................63 Chapter III. Methodology .........................................................................................65 iv Sample............................................................................................................66 Data Analysis .................................................................................................67 Chapter IV. Results ...................................................................................................70 Protector .........................................................................................................72 Good Family Person ..............................................................73 People’s Candidate.................................................................79 Conciliator..............................................................................84 Trustworthy Person ................................................................88 Enduring Strength ..........................................................................................92 Toughness-Domestic Policy ..................................................93 Toughness-Foreign Policy .....................................................96 Consistent ...............................................................................103 Military Pride .........................................................................105 Pointing Fingers .....................................................................109 Know How .....................................................................................................112 Knowledge/Experience ..........................................................112 Business Approach.................................................................115 Reformer ........................................................................................................117 New politics ...........................................................................118 Activist ...................................................................................120 Charisma ........................................................................................................123 Popular ...................................................................................123 Authentic ................................................................................125 Religious Person ............................................................................................127 Religion-Friendly ...................................................................127 The “Americanization” of Political Advertising and the Cult to the Candidates Personality ...................................................................................129 Role of Women and Minorities......................................................................141 Chapter V. Discussion and Conclusions ....................................................................147 Limitations and Future Research ...................................................................155 References ....................................................................................................................... 158 v List of Tables Table 4.0 Frames and sub-frames………………………………………….…….72 Table 4.1 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Good Family Person” sub-frame ………...…………………………………….……………………………..…….73 Table 4.2 Framing and reasoning devices for the “People’s Candidate” sub-frame ………...……………………………………………………….…………..…….80 Table 4.3 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Conciliator” sub-frame ………...……………………………………………………….……………..….85 Table 4.4 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Trustworthy Person” sub-frame ………...…………………………………………………………………….…...89 Table 4.5 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Toughness-Domestic Policy” sub-frame ………......…………………………………………………………………..…...94 Table 4.6 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Toughness-Foreign Policy” sub-frame ………...………………………………………………...……………….…...….97 Table 4.7 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Consistent” sub-frame …….103 Table 4.8 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Military Pride” sub-frame....106 Table 4.9 Framing and reasoning devices for the “Pointing Fingers” sub- frame……………………………………………………………………………..109