THE MEDIA AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF PRESIDENTIAL SUPPORT - BUSH,GEORGE AND THE PERSIAN-GULF CONFLICT

When the United States began its overt military conflict with Iraq in January 1991, the American news media focused attention powerfully and seemingly unceasingly on the Gulf crisis for a period of almost three months. Through analysis of data collected in a panel survey conducte d before and after the war, we found that paralleling this surge in me dia coverage were significant alterations in the ingredients of Americ ans' assessments of George Bush's job performance. After the war, thes e assessments were based much more on citizens' beliefs about his effe ctiveness in managing the conflict, and much less on their confidence in his handling of other foreign relations matters or the domestic eco nomy. We found as well that these shifts were regulated by citizens' l evels of political knowledge, exposure to political news, and interest in the war. Greater shifts were associated with higher levels of know ledge and lower levels of exposure and interest. These findings challe nge traditional views of these dimensions of political involvement and support an alternative view derived from contemporary psychological t heories of information processing.