The moment the primaries started, Communication professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson's telephone started ringing off the hook, her voicemail inundated by those seeking her expertise in political communications.
As director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Jamieson is frequently contacted by journalists and broadcasters for comment on political news, debates and advertising, sometimes more often than she would like.
The many books that she has written over the years have cemented her reputation among the media as a first-choice non-partisan source.
"What happens is the media often goes to academics, because they're the easiest people to get to," said Larry Ceisler, a partner in the media advisory group Ceisler Jubelirer. "When you call a person like me to talk about politics, even though I have more experience than an academic, a person like me has a certain bias. Kathleen has a national perspective on issues and mechanisms and strategies and politics."
As if the sheer volume of phone calls she receives is not time-consuming enough, Jamieson often appears on PBS's NOW with Bill Moyers, a political commentary show. The demand for her participation reflects her experience and abilities.
"She comes from a communications school -- she is able to talk about communications and how it affects people," said Josh Starr, a former Bill Clinton pollster. "She's able to provide insights that others aren't so adept at doing."
Jamieson also has her duties as a professor and adviser to fulfill, and is teaching the election from a communications point of view this semester. She noted that balancing her many responsibilities could sometimes be overwhelming.
"I didn't choose [this role]; it chose me, and sometimes it chooses me a little too aggressively," she said. "There are too many phone calls, and I simply don't have time."
Jamieson directs two widely sourced projects at the Annenberg Center. The first is the Annenberg Political Fact Check at FactCheck.org, which examines the veracity of claims made by the presidential campaigns.
She also oversees the National Annenberg Election Survey. The NAES is an issues-focused poll that particularly tracks the effects of media exposure on the population by employing a distinctive rolling cross-sectional design.
Jamieson explained that, unlike polls conducted from a political science perspective, the NAES interviews a portion of its 100,000-strong database every day to measure people's response to events as they happen.
"Because our survey is in the field every day, if a communications event makes a difference, we will find it in the survey," she said.
The NAES concentrates less on the presidential horse race and more on questions that examine the political thinking of the populace. Recent surveys have included reports on the extent to which people misevaluate the candidates, and the electoral leanings of evangelicals versus born-again Protestants.
"We're very smart about asking questions. ... We approach this as scholars, not as pollsters," Jamieson said. "We're much more interested in what they know, what their opinions are about their major issues."
Several commentators noted that the continuous flow of polls ascertaining who will emerge triumphant on Nov. 2 has decreased their efficacy and sacrificed substance. They see the NAES as filling a gaping hole in electoral analysis.
"I think it's a very valuable bit of research -- it gets in-depth on a lot of issues," said Terry Madonna, the director of the Floyd Institute's Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. "When you get a poll from Annenberg, you know it's one you can trust."
