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Date of Award
Spring 2019
Rights
Access restricted for 5 years to EWU users with an active EWU NetID
Date Available to Non-EWU Users
June 2024
Document Type
Thesis: EWU Only
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS) in Communications
Department
Communication Studies
Abstract
This study examines the visual and verbal components of Kyrsten Sinema’s and Martha McSally’s campaign video announcements as both candidates competed for the 2018 Arizona Senate. The primary research objective was to understand how the audience demographics and the rhetorical situation faced by each candidate affected the choice of visual components for the persuasion of potential voters. The study concludes that the visual messages were chosen primarily to appeal to each candidate’s supporting viewers. Sinema’s message, however, was more intersectional in that it appealed to a larger body of potential voters across party lines. The candidates appeal to voters using difference visual and verbal strategies to accomplish increasing voter intensity among current supporters and appealing to voters who might initially prefer their opponent.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Oswald, Audrey L., "Raising Arizona: a visual rhetorical analysis of Kyrsten Sinema's and Martha McSally's 2018 campaign announcement videos" (2019). EWU Masters Thesis Collection. 577.
https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/577
