Patricia Thompson explores a variety of video 'artists' and their response to the prominence of new politics in U.S. presidential campaigns. With the growing prominence of mass media since the nineteen-sixties, video artists are responding to the "packaging, marketing, and stagecraft" present in presidential campaign where ideological issues are being buried under the desire to win the race. Considering a variety of mediums, from video installation to alternative media, Thompson discusses the use of television as a tool for reconstructing American ideals by the media, individual artists, and alternative networks.