Presidents spend millions of dollars on public opinion polling while in office. Critics often point to this polling as evidence that a "permanent campaign" has taken over the White House at the expense of traditional governance. But has presidential polling truly changed the shape of presidential leadership? Diane J. Heith examines the polling practices of six presidential administrations-those of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-dissecting the poll apparatus of each period. She contends that while White House polls significantly influence presidential messages and responses to events, they do not impact presidential decisions to the extent that observers often claim. Heith concludes that polling, and thus the campaign environment, exists in tandem with long-established governing strategies.

In "The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation," Diane J. Heith evaluates presidential leadership by critically examining a fundamental tenet of the presidency: the national nature of the office. The fact that the entire nation votes for the office seemingly imbues the presidency with leadership opportunities that rest on appeals to the mass public. Yet, presidents earn the office not by appealing to the nation but rather by assembling a coalition of supporters, predominantly partisans. Moreover, once in office, recent presidents have had trouble controlling their message in the fragmented media environment. The combined constraints of the electoral coalition and media environment influence the nature of public leadership presidents can exercise. Using a data set containing not only speech content but also the classification of the audience, Diane J. Heith finds that rhetorical leadership is constituency driven and targets audiences differently. Comparing tone, content, and tactics of national and local speeches reveals that presidents are abandoning national strategies in favor of local leadership efforts that may be tailored to the variety of political contexts a president must confront.

In The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation, Diane J. Heith evaluates presidential leadership by critically examining a fundamental tenet of the presidency: the national nature of the office. The fact that the entire nation votes for the office seemingly imbues the presidency with leadership opportunities that rest on appeals to the mass public. Yet, presidents earn the office not by appealing to the nation but rather by assembling a coalition of supporters, predominantly partisans. Moreover, once in office, recent presidents have had trouble controlling their message in the fragmented media environment. The combined constraints of the electoral coalition and media environment influence the nature of public leadership presidents can exercise. Using a data set containing not only speech content but also the classification of the audience, Diane J. Heith finds that rhetorical leadership is constituency driven and targets audiences differently. Comparing tone, content, and tactics of national and local speeches reveals that presidents are abandoning national strategies in favor of local leadership efforts that may be tailored to the variety of political contexts a president must confront.

Presidents spend millions of dollars on public opinion polling while in office. Critics often point to this polling as evidence that a "permanent campaign" has taken over the White House at the expense of traditional governance. But has presidential polling truly changed the shape of presidential leadership? Diane J. Heith examines the polling practices of six presidential administrations-those of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-dissecting the poll apparatus of each period. She contends that while White House polls significantly influence presidential messages and responses to events, they do not impact presidential decisions to the extent that observers often claim. Heith concludes that polling, and thus the campaign environment, exists in tandem with long-established governing strategies.

This volume examines the challenges of winning the White House and becoming president in the twenty-first century. Beginning with the resources candidates must secure to gain their party's nomination, continuing through the general election campaign, and concluding with the challenges that the victor will face upon taking office, From Votes to Victory presents cogent analysis of the path from campaign to governance. In focusing on the 2008 presidential race as a case study of twenty-first century presidential campaigns, the volume offers an early assessment of the structural changes that have reshaped presidential elections and governance in recent years. To address these questions about presidential campaigns and governance in the twenty-first century, the contributors met during a one-day symposium at Hofstra University's Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency on April 3, 2008.|This volume examines the challenges of winning the White House and becoming president in the twenty-first century. Beginning with the resources candidates must secure to gain their party's nomination, continuing through the general election campaign, and concluding with the challenges that the victor will face upon taking office, From Votes to Victory presents cogent analysis of the path from campaign to governance. In focusing on the 2008 presidential race as a case study of twenty-first century presidential campaigns, the volume offers an early assessment of the structural changes that have reshaped presidential elections and governance in recent years. To address these questions about presidential campaigns and governance in the twenty-first century, the contributors met during a one-day symposium at Hofstra University's Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency on April 3, 2008.