July 27, 2000

Bush Character Themes

Percent of Bush Stories
Bush is a different kind of Republican 40%
Rebuttal of “different kind” theme 16%
Bush is unintelligent 26%
Rebuttal of “unintelligent” theme 3%
Bush coasts on family 10%
Rebuttal of “coasts on family” theme 5%

The most dominant theme in the 2000 campaign coverage of then-Gov. George W. Bush was that he was a “different kind of Republican.”

Source: PEJ, “Campaign 2000 — A Question of Character”

Date Posted: July 27, 2000