"In Battleground, Shaw, Althaus, and Panagopoulos trace the evolution of presidential campaigns from 1952 through 2020, with an eye toward how Electoral College expectations influence the allocation of campaign resources. They show how campaigns have increasingly focused media spending and candidate visits on states thought to be crucial battlegrounds where the Electoral College outcome would supposedly pivot. Did media spending and candidate visits matter? The research suggests the answer is yes. Battleground is an easily accessible resource - for students, academics, political practitioners, or anyone who is interested in US presidential elections." --Robert S. Erikson, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University"Three of the brightest minds in political science have written the penultimate book for election junkies-a tour de force of the strategies of the last nearly seventy years of presidential campaigns. They have charted the evolving nature of these contests as technology, culture, and demography have changed America and its politics. They've drawn on the animating documents of these efforts to illuminate the different ways in which campaigns for the Oval Office have been run. Read, enjoy, and be enlightened by academics who understand intimately the practice of our country's politics at its highest level, namely in races for the White House." --Karl Rove, Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush"For better or worse, the Electoral College framework dictates how presidential campaigns must think about electoral strategy and resource allocation. Readers will be hard-pressed to find a better study of how campaigns have navigated this terrain since the 1950s. The research, writing, and analyses in this book are all first-rate. The authors bring presidential campaigns to life so vividly that you almost miss the superb social science weaved throughout. You are sure to learn a great deal about modern-era races for the White House-even if they were your own!" --Michael S. Dukakis, Former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic Presidential Nominee