For example, according to an article from Presidential Studies Quarterly which cites data from the American National Election Studies (NES), "twenty-one percent of Americans displayed a button, bumper sticker or yard sign during the campaign, matching the all-time high set in 1960. (For context, only ten percent of Americans displayed one of these in the 2000 presidential campaign) . Even more impressively, 48 percent of Americans reported that they talked to someone during the 2004 campaign to try to influence their vote. This was by far the highest proportion in the history of the NEW and a dramatic increase from the 32 percent who reported engaging in efforts at personal persuasion during the 200 campaign. " Abramowitz and Stone, page 142) .
Furthermore, within this election was the largest number of financial contributors and contributions up to that point in history. In fact, campaign funding receipts added up to more than double that of the 2000 election to the tune of $674 million in comparison to $213 million. To that end, not only was the electorate about equally divided between the two presidential candidates when it came to the voting booth, but contributors were also about equally divided along ideological lines between the two major parties. What may be most important to note, however, is the huge jump in small donors/donations (under $200)- both parties raised unprecedented amounts from this group. In the 2000 election cycle, about Al Gore gained about, $6.8 million, or twenty percent, of his total fundraising from small donors in comparison to Bush, who received $14.8 million, or about sixteen percent, in this fashion. These numbers skyrocketed in 2004, as thirty four percent of overall campaign contributions came from small donors. Howard Dean, who didn't even win the nomination of the Democratic Party, was able to raise thirty million dollars in this fashion.