Campaign ’’96: A Functional Analysis of Acclaiming, Attacking, and Defending

WILLIAM L. BENOIT is Professor of Communication at the University of Missouri. He has published numerous articles and three books, including Candidates in Conflict: Persuasive Attack and Defense in the 1992 Presidential Debates (1996, with William T. Wells).

JOSEPH R. BLANEY is an Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at Northwest Missouri State University. He has published, with Benoit, in The Journal of Communication and Religion.

P. M. PIER is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri. She has published, with Benoit and Blaney, in Communication Quarterly.