The Constitution on the Campaign Trail : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers : 9780742548480 : 0742548481 : 16 Sep 2007 : The Constitution is the fundamental governing document of the United States. But to what extent do candidates and parties make constitutional arguments in the course of American elections? By examining party platforms, candidate messages, presidential debates, and television ads, The Constitution on the Campaign Trail answers four main questions: How often does constitutional rhetoric appear in campaigns? How much of it is explicit and how much implicit? What constitutional topics receive the most attention? And how often do the electoral competitors engage in an actual constitutional dialogue? The Constitution on the Campaign Trail finds evidence for a long, broad decline in the use of constitutional rhetoric since the mid-19th century. Making matters worse, the modern medium most responsible for conveying campaign messages on a day-to-day basis_television advertising_