The Road to Congress 2004

Across the country, candidates run for political offices in every election and struggle to win those contests. Undoubtedly, for some the combat is less gruelling than for others. But, for all candidates, seeking an elective office means going through the hoops to win in a primary and then in the general election. This book is designed to lead the readers to see the candidates as individuals struggling to win elections. In so doing, the authors address a number of questions. How do these candidates deal with the whole medley of issues confronting their campaigns? What kinds of decisions do they make and how do they do so? What is the role of parties, issues, and candidates in congressional races? What about campaign strategies and consultants? What of the money and the media? At the end of the day, based upon a variety of selected races from across the nation, our aim in this book is to provide the readers with a detailed understanding of contemporary campaigns and elections in congressional contests at the individual level. This is a unique approach. In the last decade or so, a number of books have regularly provided analyses of contemporary campaigns and elections. However, these works have used aggregate data to make national generalisations. They have examined campaigns and elections from a broad, national perspective. The authors focus on the individual level instead will not only supplement our understanding of contemporary congressional elections, but also show a previously unseen side of these contests. The hope is that readers will learn a good deal about how candidates run campaigns and win or lose those contests. The focus is strictly on Congress. In this book, the authors draw upon races for the House and Senate contested in 2004.