Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, said that group generally needs something “new and different” to overcome the inherent benefits of incumbency.
“Incumbents are going to get most of the campaign finance money anyway,” Farnsworth said. “So you can make a statement of principle out of your disadvantage.”
Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says it’s telling these members haven’t been able to catchup yet. “While incumbents can’t raise money during the session, the reality is that once the session is over the money can start rolling in, and it usually rolls in at a pretty good clip if there is a sense that this is a contestable race.”
Stephen J. Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, said the Northam controversy may trigger more revelations of racial misconduct, the same way that the #MeToo movement emboldened women to come forward after years of silence. “Other politicians who have similar controversies in their past have to be prepared for them to be disclosed,” Farnsworth said. “And there may be additional pressure on Virginia government to deal with legacies of the Confederacy and Jim Crow in terms of statues and renaming of public parks.”
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, is author of a new book, Presidential Communication and Character: White House News Management from Clinton and Cable to Twitter and Trump, published by Routledge Press.
From the Publisher: This book traces the evolution of White House news management during America’s changing media environment over the past two decades. Comparing and contrasting the communication strategies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, it demonstrates the difficulty that all presidents have in controlling their messages despite a seemingly endless array of new media outlets and the great advantages of the office. That difficulty is compounded by new media’s amplification of presidential character traits for good or ill. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube notwithstanding, presidential power still resides in the “power to persuade,” and that task remains a steep challenge.
The book also looks at the media strategies of candidates during the 2016 presidential campaign and covers the early phase of the Trump administration, the first true Twitter presidency.
More information
C-Span interview on "Presidential Communication and Character" 
Professor Stephen Farnsworth of the University of Mary Washington said that Bernie Sanders waited to endorse Hillary Clinton as a deliberate strategy to push the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton in a more liberal direction. Although he fell short of securing the party’s presidential nomination, Sanders succeeded in drawing a lot of attention to his key issue areas, including improved health care, more affordable higher education, and a $15 an hour minimum wage, Farnsworth said.
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, delivered a lecture titled “Virginia’s Candidate Selection Process: Examining Recent Primaries and Conventions” at the American Legion Boys’ State of Virginia at Radford University on Monday, June 20.
The week-long government education program brings together nearly 700 of the state’s top high school students for a week of political conversation and simulations.
