THE IDEAL CANDIDATE REVISITED - A STUDY OF THE DESIRED ATTRIBUTES OF THE PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA ACROSS 3 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS

The view of image as a transaction between all that a candidate says a nd does and the way in which voters compare that behavior to their per sonal vision of what a candidate should be inspires at least three que stions important to campaign communication. First although the ability or power of the media to affect the success or failure of political c ampaigns and candidates is popularly believed and has been documented by researchers, do the views of individual members of the media regard ing the ideal qualities required of president candidates differ signif icantly from those of voters' Second, do the characteristics or criter ia of the ''ideal candidate'' ascribed by the media and/or the elector ate vary from election to election ? And finally, do the evaluative di mensions of ''idealness'' differ by party affiliation, age, or gender? The answers to these questions were determined from the results of a survey of 388 professional journalists covering and 734 citizens atten ding rallies in New Hampshire during the presidential primaries of 198 8, 1992, and 1996.