Abstract
An experimental examination of different TV exposure groups following the September 1988 debate between Republican George Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis found that post-debate commentary primarily reinforced voting predispositions. A control group that saw and reacted immediately to the debate was most likely to find the debate interesting, to report change in the intensity of their candidate choice and to judge Bush's performance highly. A content analysis of network instant analysis found that both candidates received more positive than negative assertions. The group that viewed the results of an instant poll by ABC indicating that Dukakis had won the debate seemed to be influenced by the poll results.
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