Since its publication in 1986, Samuel Kernell's “going public” theory has emerged as a leading explanation of presidential behavior. To a large degree, presidential leadership is built upon a going public strategy. However, since Kernell first wrote his book, the political world has evolved. The political parties are now more polarized, the news media highly fragmented, and the public less attentive to news and public affairs than it was a quarter century ago. Presidents have adapted to this changing political context. Although they have not abandoned the going public leadership strategy, presidents have modified their public leadership activities to better fit these new realities. Going Local: Presidential Leadership in the Post-Broadcast Age is about the changing nature of presidential going public in an era of polarized parties and fragmented media. This revised going public model better explains recent presidential behavior that seems at odds with our traditional understanding of going public.

For instance, the traditional going public perspective predicts that presidents will build a personal, broad-based following in the mass public, not a partisan one. Consider, however, George W. Bush's behavior in the wake of his narrow election victory in 2000. Bush came to office in 2001 under a cloud, winning the election only after the Supreme Court ruled in his favor regarding the recount of votes in Florida. That, the Court's party line vote on the Florida recount issue, and Al Gore's popular vote lead led to outcry and protest and potentially undermined Bush's legitimacy to assume the office.