Page 151 - An Introduction to Political Communication Second Edition

AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Figure 7.1 Labour’s defence policy
Source: Reproduced courtesy of Conservative Central Office.

manifestation the convention functions as a huge signifier of whatever
it is that the party that year is selling. In Ronald Reagan’s re-election
campaign of 1984 the Republic convention was dominated by
emotional film of Ron and Nancy, accompanied by the adulation of
convention delegates and (by extension) the American people. All
this was communicated, through media coverage, to the audience.
In Britain, the trend towards the conference-as-symbol was
pioneered, as were so many elements of modern political marketing,
by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party (Scammell, 1995). In
the 1980s, show-business entrepreneur Harvey Thomas was

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