The use of rhetoric, talking points and other strategies on the campaign trails

Talking with Bill Lacy

The director of the Dole Institute of Politics comments on the campaign strategies of Barack Obama and John McCain.

Listen to Bill Lacy | 3:15 (1.5 MB) | MP3

The 2008 presidential race has shaped up to be one of the most contentious, polarizing and scrutinized campaigns in decades. At the University of Kansas, several faculty and staff members have shared their expertise and analysis of both of the main campaigns in an effort to help decode the rhetoric that has shaped the race.

At right, Professor Robert Rowland and Bill Lacy, Director of the Dole Institute, discuss the use of various techniques in both campaigns. Below, Lacy also talks about the important role KU's Dole Institute of Politics plays in bringing a variety of speakers to campus to discuss local and national policy and legislation. Finally, Becky Schulte, curator of the Wilcox Collection, provides examples of the types of political documents archived at KU, which focuses on third-party presidential candidates through the years as well as many other political topics.

Rowland, who is a professor of communication studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has extensive experience in rhetoric and political messages. He has worked with seven candidates for Congress on developing persuasive messages, as well as a number of other candidates for state offices.

The Dole Institute of Politics

The mission of the bi-partisan Dole Institute is to promote political and civic involvement, especially among young people, encourage civil discussion on important issues, emphasize that politics is an honorable profession, and provide opportunities for all to interact with political leaders, practitioners and writers.

Director Bill Lacy has led the way in creating world class political programming focusing on a bipartisan and philosophically balanced approach since 2004.

The Institute building incorporates 28,000 square feet of space: public programming areas, exhibit cases, reading room and staff offices on the main level, and archival storage (Dole Archive) and work areas on the lower level.

The Dole Archive, a 9,000 square foot vault with two miles of steel shelving, houses one of the Nation’s largest single collections of congressional papers – over 4,000 boxes of the Senator Bob Dole's political and legislative documents.

KU's political literature archive

The Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Political Movements at KU's Spencer Research Library was established in 1965 when the university purchased student Laird Wilcox's collection of pamphlets, books, periodicals and other materials on contemporary political activity.

Since then, the collection has grown to become national in scope and include holdings from the 1940s to the present day. It is among the largest and most heavily consulted collections of its kind in North America, attracting scholars from many countries. Below are several examples of third-party presidential campaign materials archived within the collection.

Additional resources Find more information pertaining to this election cycle. • KU Library voter guide • 2008 election search engine • More on the Wilcox Collection • Election issue guides	Click to zoom	Click to zoom
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