How Campaigns Deploy Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates on the Campaign Trail

What is it about?

This study is the first to evaluate whether campaigns use the presidential versus vice presidential candidate disproportionately to appeal to voters with whom that individual shares a strategically advantageous affiliation (and, if so, which ones). To answer this research question, we analyze an original database of campaign visits in the 2016 presidential election, that includes population characteristics (i.e., demographic and political) associated with each locale that hosted a campaign visit. Our analysis provides direct insight into the strategic considerations that reasonably might be inferred to have influenced specific vice presidential selections. Our results indicate that each ticket’s visits were highly coordinated across states, but frequently divergent within states. At the sub-state level, we find several systematic differences in the populations visited by presidential versus vice presidential candidates – in some cases aligning with a candidate’s personal characteristics. We discuss these findings’ implications with respect to campaign strategy and vice presidential selection.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

This study addresses the strategic appeal of presidential vs. vice presidential candidates to key voter groups.