I’m Here to Ask for Your Vote

During presidential campaigns, candidates crisscross the country nonstop—visiting swing states, their home turf, and enemy territory. But do all those campaign visits make a difference when Election Day comes? If so, how and under what conditions? Do they mobilize the partisan faithful or persuade undecided voters? What do campaigns try to achieve through campaign visits—and when do they succeed?

I’m Here to Ask for Your Vote is a comprehensive and compelling examination of the strategy and effectiveness of presidential campaign visits. Christopher J. Devine uses an original database of presidential and vice-presidential campaign visits from 2008 through 2020 to estimate the effects of visits on vote choice and turnout, both among individual voters and within counties. He finds that campaign visits do not usually influence voting behavior, but when they do, most often it is by persuading undecided voters—as was the case for John McCain in 2008 and even Donald Trump in 2020. Challenging the recent emphasis on candidates playing to their base, this book suggests that persuasion is still a viable campaign strategy, in which candidate visits may play a major role.

I’m Here to Ask for Your Vote is an authoritative and engaging analysis designed for scholars, strategists, students, and other readers interested in understanding how campaign visits—and campaigns more broadly—shape presidential election outcomes.