Negative campaigning is a central component of politics in the United States. Yet, until now, demonstrating the impact of combative advertising on voters has been elusive. How can we reconcile the findings of a plethora of studies with the methods of politicians? This book cuts through to the central issue: how negative advertising influences voters' attitudes and actions. Focusing on U.S. senatorial campaigns, Kim Fridkin and Patrick Kenney draw from surveys, experiments, facial expressio...

Joseph Kenney was born on the East Side of Manhattan in 1951, surrounded by eclectic landmarks such as the United Nations Headquarters, Grand Central Terminal and The Waldorf Astoria Hotel. He was the fifth child of seven siblings, living in a Two Bedroom Railroad Flat in a neighborhood that was a melting pot of ethnic persuasions in which most families thrived.He, though, was encumbered by alcoholism, abandonment and festering resentment and was subjected to unspeakable acts of se...

As the number of women in the U.S. Senate grows, so does the number of citizens represented by women senators. At the same time, gender remains a key factor in senators’ communications to constituents as well as in news media portrayals of senators. Focusing on 32 male and female senators during the 2006 congressional election year, Kim L. Fridkin and Patrick J. Kenney examine in detail senators’ official websites, several thousand press releases and local news stories, and surveys of 18,0...

Negative campaigning is a central component of politics in the United States. Yet, until now, demonstrating the impact of combative advertising on voters has been elusive. How can we reconcile the findings of a plethora of studies with the methods of politicians? This book cuts through to the central issue: how negative advertising influences voters' attitudes and actions. Focusing on US senatorial campaigns, Kim Fridkin and Patrick Kenney draw from surveys, experiments, facial expression ...

American politics seems to grow more contentious and complicated by the day, and whether American democracy works well is hotly debated. Amidst all this roiling partisan argument and confusing claims and counterclaims, there has never been a greater need for an impartial primer on the basics of the American political system. This Very Short Introduction gives readers a concise, accessible, and sophisticated overview of the vital elements of American democracy, emphasizing both how these el...

The New York Times bestsellerOne of America’s most original and biting comic satirists, Denis Leary takes on all the poseurs, politicians, and pop culture icons who have sucked in public for far too long. Sparing no one, Leary zeroes in on the ridiculous wherever he finds it—his Irish Catholic upbringing, the folly of celebrity, the pressures of family life, and the great hypocrisy of politics—with the same bright, savage, and profane insight he brought to...

The pro skateboarder and Jackass star comes clean about fame, addiction, and the road to recovery in this candid memoir—forward by Tony Hawk.At seven, Brandon was a skateboard prodigy. By the time he was fourteen, he was living the dream. Discovered by skate legends Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk, he started touring the U.S. with the elite Powell-Peralta team. Brandon had it all. Then he got hooked on heroin.Soon the up-and-coming star was living a down...

Jokes – Clean Jokes is a cheerful collection packed with hundreds of family‑friendly jokes for all ages. Every page offers light‑hearted humour that children, parents, friends, and grandparents can enjoy together. The jokes are easy to read, safe to share, and perfect for brightening a quiet moment or bringing laughter to a gathering.From quick one‑liners to playful question‑and‑answer jokes, this collection keeps the fun rolling without ever crossing the line. Whether you're lookin...

Friendly, affable Bobby looks like a younger version of Richard Gere, but with even more charm. You'd love to have him for a next door neighbor until he tells you stories of his life as a drug addict. In this article, he talks about robbing a pharmacy at gunpoint to get the drug OxyContin, which is a painkilling opoid. Young men like Bobby are robbing drug stores throughout the United States to get this drug. Bobby also hijacked a van, crashed during a police chase, faked seizures in the h...

Southern Fried White Trash In the spirit of Southern humor, brought to us by writers and comics like Lewis Grizzard, Jeff Foxworthy, and Bret Butler, Carole Townsend's debut book, Southern Fried White Trash, is a must-have for tried-and-true Southern enthusiasts. It has a twist, though. Townsend satirizes real life through the eyes of a Southerner, born and raised.  Broken into sections that cover weddings, funerals, the holidays, and much more, Townsend bri...

Almost twenty-five years ago, Shanto Iyengar and Donald R. Kinder first documented a series of sophisticated and innovative experiments that unobtrusively altered the order and emphasis of news stories in selected television broadcasts. Their resulting book News That Matters, now hailed as a classic by scholars of political science and public opinion alike, is here updated for the twenty-first century, with a new preface and epilogue by the authors. Backed by careful analysis of p...

"Glorious...one of the best memoirs I've read in years...a tragicomic gem about family, class, race, justice, and the spectacular weirdness of Wichita. [McDermott] can move from barely controlled hilarity to the brink of rage to aching tenderness in a single breath." -- Marya Hornbacher, New York Times Book ReviewZack McDermott, a 26-year-old Brooklyn public defender, woke up one morning convinced he was being filmed, Truman Show-style, as part of an audit...