Explaining the Vote in the Election of 2016: The Remarkable Come from Behind Victory of Republican Candidate Donald Trump

Abstract

The study of political campaign communication focuses on the elements of the political environment, messengers, messages, channels of communication (print, radio, television, social media, etc.), audience, and effects. This chapter explains the presidential vote in 2016, and it draws upon the key factors in political campaign communication to explain it. The authors focus on: (1) the overall political environment, (2) the rules of the game and the electoral college, (3) the salience of party identification, (4) the messengers, (5) the messages and campaign strategies, (6) the channels of communication, and (7) and the audience or the regional/state and demographic bases of the presidential vote, with special attention to the roles of gender and race-ethnicity in recent elections and the 2016 campaign.