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Elections: Voter Support and Partisans’ (Mis)Perceptions of Presidential Candidates’ Abortion Views in 2000
Author(s) -
Brians Craig Leonard,
Greene Steven
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2004.00051.x
Subject(s) - abortion , presidential system , political science , opposition (politics) , democracy , law , public administration , constitutional amendment , politics , pregnancy , genetics , biology
Although the 2000 Republican and Democratic national party platforms show the parties at opposite poles on abortion policy, Governor George W. Bush publicly supported a vaguely defined “culture of life,” rather than the constitutional amendment barring abortion that was advocated by his party. In light of Bush's campaign strategy, this article uses national survey data to examine the accuracy of citizens’ knowledge of the candidates’ abortion policy positions. Interestingly, pro‐choice Republican voters were much less likely to defect from their party in 2000 than in 1996, suggesting that the Bush campaign's efforts to avoid public opposition to his abortion position were successful.