“…A substantial body of research is concerned with political personalization, a phenomenon whereby politicians become the main anchor of interpretations and evaluations in the political process (Downey & Stanyer, ; Holtz‐Bacha et al, ; Kriesi, ; Mancini, ; Oegema & Kleinnijenhuis, ; Reinemann & Wilke, ; Wattenberg, ). This trend is by no means new; in fact, researchers concur that “personalization of politics is as old as politics itself” (Radunski, , p. 15; see also Briggs & Burke, ) and that “political personae” have always been considered relevant in political science (Van Zoonen & Holtz‐Bacha, , p. 47; see also Adam & Maier, ), as well as in political communication (Gans, ; Gitlin, ). Still, it has been noted that, at least as of the second half of the 20th century, personalization in democracies has increased (for a review see Balmas et al, forthcoming).…”