A d y s i s of 830 teleuisbn spotsjEom dgbtpreddmtiad campaips sbotved tbat tbe ckegdvi.sna'' cbarged to tbe 1988 ones and tba# wbat tends to diHhmthaie n e g d v e j k n n positive ads fs notparty or dncrmrbency buta morej+vquer# appeal to voters'fears.No aspect of modern political campaigning has received as much attention as the phenomenon of negative advertising. Although most observers acknowledge that political attacks are not unique to recent campaigns (4, lo), television's ability to quickly reach millions of voters has elevated negative advertisements to the level of mediated argumentation (2) whereby candidates exchange positions and views through their campaign ads.Negative ads and positive ads are generally distinguished by their relative emphasis on the sponsoring candidate and his or her opponent. Negative ads focus on criticisms of the opponent, while positive ads focus on the "good" characteristics, accomplishments, or issue positions of the sponsoring candidate. Negative ads were aired in the first presidential campaign to use television, the 1952 Eisenhower-Stevenson race. Several commercials from the "Eisenhower Answers America" series overtly attack the Democrats, although Stevenson was not usually mentioned by name (10). Most subsequent campaigns have had some standout negative ads, none more famous than the 1964 "Daisy Girl" spot produced for Lyndon Johnson by Tony Schwartz (25).Beginning in 1980, however, with the successful use of negative ads by independent groups such as NCPAC (1,9), such ads seemed to become more prevalent. By 1981 Sabato (24) estimated that one-third of all campaign spots were negative, and Joslyn's (11) more systematic analysis of a convenience sample of campaign ads found 23 percent with a blame-placing focus.

This study explores the differences in techniques, strategies, narratives, and symbols used in televised issue ads and image ads from U.S. presidential campaigns. A content analysis was done of 1,213 ads from the past 13 U.S. presidential elections coded as either issue ads or image ads. Findings indicate that there are key differences in the style of image ads and issue ads. In issue ads, the candidate tends to speak for himself, appear on camera speaking to the viewer, and use emotional language in making the appeal. In image ads, an anonymous announcer is the dominant speaker, and source credibility appeals are the most popular appeals. Although the majority of both types of ads were positive, negative appeals dominated a higher percentage of issue ads as compared with image ads.As a campaign communication tool, political advertising serves many functions for candidates. In particular, research has shown that political advertising can make unknown candidates better known by establishing name identification, can connect the candidate with particular demographic groups, can attract new supporters, stimulate participation in the campaign, help raise money for the candidate, and attack the opponent (Devlin, 1986;Sabato, 1981). Among all of the functions of political advertising, particularly of televised political ads, two of the most important functions are helping the candidate define or redefine his or her image and providing a forum where campaign issues can be explained and developed. Issue discussion and image construction have been central to televised political ads, particularly those used by presidential candidates, for a half century of campaigning.

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Their ads also tended to highlight their competency as political officials and their past accomplishments.A 27 April 1992 headline for U.S. News and World Report asked, "Will 1992 be theyearof the Woman?"The headlinemirrored the assumptions that have been made since the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings, when it became clear that women were grossly underrepresented in the Senate. Women, it was reported, have been galvanized into political action because of the televised coverage of the hearing and because of an increasing fear that abortion rights will be restricted. Because of the prominence of these issues, predictions were that women would run for office in 1992 and be supported by female voters in record numbers.However, 1992 was not the first year that women made bids for senatorial seats. In 1986, six women ran for the U.S. Senate in five states (two women opposed each other in one race). Their run for office was nota result of a national political event, but they ran in a year when a record number of women were running for higher political offices. The purpose of this paper is to study televised advertising for these female candidates and to investigate the styles and strategies used to communicate their positions, images, and philosophical stances to voters. Statistics suggest that women are gaining elected office in greater numbers. For example, in state legislatures, the number of women elected quadrupled between 1969 and 1988 from 301 to 1176 (15.8 percent).' But while the number of elected women has dramatically increased at the state, county, and municipal levels, female candidates have not experienced such success in the U.S. Congress. In 1975,4 percent of Congressional members were women; by 1991, there were two female members of the Senate and twenty-nine women in the House? Although the statistical trends indicate an increasing number of women in politics, it also reveals the difficulty women continue to encounter at the highest levels of political office, where the numbers are most discouraging.Anne lohnston is an associate professor and Anne Barton White is a doctoral candidate lountnlim Quarterly in the

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