Abstract
Congressional elections scholars have spent considerable time exploring how voters pay attention to campaigns. We add to this literature by conceptualizing public attention as a relative measure between two candidates. Borrowing from epidemiology and research in public policy, we propose a new indicator of public attention based on trends in Internet search activity. Such a conceptualization allows for us to insert public attention into the larger theoretical picture. We test this measure by statistically analyzing Senate elections between 2004-2010, finding a positive and significant relationship between relative attentiveness and electoral success that is robust across multiple specifications.
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