Campaign 2016—The First Words and Their Audiences

Abstract

When do citizens begin to attend to election campaigns for the presidency? The timing is changing as the infrastructure of communication changes. What could be said in the days when television was dominant is no longer a full answer given the emergence of new media as a vehicle for political communication. This report addresses the question of when by examining the messages posted to Twitter after Jeb Bush said he would consider running for the nomination of the Republican party. What was the reaction in those first two weeks of the campaign?