Amber Davisson is a third year student and doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Arts & Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Currently, she is pursuing her dissertation research on Hillary Clinton’s use of YouTube during the 2008 Democratic Primary. Her research is funded by a two-year Humanities & Social Sciences research fellowship from RPI. Her work incorporates literature from rhetorical theory, software and platform studies, and political communication. When she graduates, she hopes to use her research to develop a better understanding of how individuals view and interact with public address in new media environments.
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Presentation Date:
4/16/2009
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Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Democratic Primary Campaign on YouTube
Abstract:
This study looks at the strategies present in ten YouTube videos from Hillary Clinton’s official Democratic Primary campaign. The research used a rhetorical framework to understand the persuasive aspects of these videos, and situate the candidate’s rhetorical choices in relationship to the social constraints facing female presidential candidates. The results show that while Clinton’s early attempts at a dialogue approach failed, the candidate’s later videos using humorous and documentary style approaches allowed her to overcome a lot of issues facing the campaign. Clinton’s rhetorical choices offer insight to future candidates attempting to use new media technologies.
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