Americans Governing

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In 1992, Bill Clinton ran for president against George H.W. Bush in an exciting, gutsy campaign managed by James Carville. Much of the behind-the-scenes action of the campaign was captured on film and made into a documentary called The War Room.

The clip here shows Carville handling a potentially scandalous report from Brazilian television about the Bush campaign.

Watch the video at left, then answer the following questions.

What appears to have happened? Why is it potentially scandalous?

What does this scene reveal about the relationship between the news media and major campaigns?

Carville is working to influence the media agenda away from what and toward what? What groups seem to be influencing the media focus?

How would you describe the candidate's role in this part of the campaign? How does this one scene fit into the larger campaign as a whole?

What does this scene tell us about the perspective of campaign strategists toward voters?