Presidential Campaign Rhetoric In An Age Of Confessional Politics

Presidential Campaign Rhetoric in the Age of Confessional Politics analyzes religious rhetoric in presidential campaigns from 1976-2008, proposing a confessional political style successful candidates must employ that differs sharply from earlier ideals of civic piety. Brian T. Kaylor also considers changes in American society that helped create this confessional political system and critiques the problems with this system.

The 2016 presidential election provides voters with the two least popular nominees in polling history. Both come with a record of ethical scandals, flip-flops, and outright lies. Yet, many pastors and Christian leaders willingly risk their credibility and witness by publicly endorsing one of these flawed candidates simply because of party affiliation. Donald Trump's vulgar, bigoted, violent, authoritarian, and racist rhetoric and policies stand in stark opposition to biblical teachings. We must be politically engaged, but we must do so without ignoring our consciences and throwing away our principles. In this book, award-winning author Brian Kaylor addresses the moral issues at stake in the 2016 election, explores how the Christian faith became too closely tied to partisan politics, and considers the alternative political engagement called for in scripture. This book also includes practical steps to help Christians offer much-needed prophetic politics during this and future campaigns.

This diverse and unique collection of essays examines a wide range of communication elements and themes in the context of the 2012 election. Topics include the early campaign and Romney’s nomination battle, candidate image, the rhetoric and campaigning of Michelle Obama and Ann Romney, issues of race, persuasive appeals to voters, the use of music and social media, and Obama’s second inaugural address. Studies of Communication in the 2012 Presidential Campaign aims not only to expand the contributions and understandings of the various roles of communication in the 2012 presidential election, but also to cultivate a more active, democratic citizenry.

This volume examines political campaign communication around the concepts of theory, method and practice. It contains studies of political campaign communication using a wide range of empirical, rhetorical, and social science methodologies and reflects the growth and maturity of the discipline of political communication.

Now in its seventh edition, Political Campaign Communication provides a realistic understanding of the strategic and tactical communication practices utilized in contemporary political campaigns. It draws on a wealth of examples from local to national political campaigns and communication theory to illustrate principles and practices of campaigns such as functions, stages, communicative styles, public speaking, debates, interpersonal communication, political advertising, and the use of the internet and new media. Trent, Friedenberg, and Denton's classic text has been updated to reflect recent election campaigns, including the 2010 congressional elections and the initial stages of the 2012 presidential election. Many sections now focus on the most recent presidential elections, and the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain. In addition, the authors have examined the expanding role of the internet in political campaigns. Political Campaign Communication continues to be a classroom favorite-a thoroughly researched, insightful, and reader-friendly text.

What exactly is happening when politicians evoke a center space beyond partisan politics to advance what are unmistakably political arguments? Drawing from an analysis of pivotal speeches surrounding Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and first term in office, Centrist Rhetoric: The Production of Political Transcendence in the Clinton Presidency takes an extended look at this question by showing how the possibility of political transcendence takes form in the rhetoric of the political center. Faced with a divided and shrinking party, and later with a pitched battle against a resurgent conservative movement, Clinton used the image of a political center, a 'third way' beyond liberal and conservative orthodoxies, to advance his strategic goals, define his adversaries, and overcome key political challenges. As appeals to the center helped Clinton to achieve these advantages in specific cases, however, they also served to define the means, ends, and very essence of democracy in ambiguous and contradictory ways. Touching on controversies from the early 1990s over the future of the Democratic Party, racial identity in American politics, the threat of rightwing extremism, and the role of government, Antonio de Velasco show how centrist rhetoric's call to transcendence weaved together forms of identification and division, insight and blindness, so as to defy the conventional assessments of both Clinton's supporters and his detractors. Centrist Rhetoric thus offers general insight into the workings of political rhetoric, and a specific appreciation of Clinton's attempts to define and adjust to the political exigencies of a critical period in history of the Democratic Party and politics in the United States.

In Reelpolitik Ideologies in American Political Film, Beverly Merrill Kelley examines more than a century of political movie history, providing a thorough historical background for diametrically opposed political ideologies in order to facilitate debate and dialectical learning. Kelley explores 185 American political movies (categorized by ideological themes and presented in chronological order) in order to illustrate the history of film as well as the history of the specific political ideology. Each chapter includes a case study which provides an in-depth analysis of the single film that best illustrates the ideology at hand, including: The Candidate (populism), Wall Street (elitism), The Godfather (fascism), All the President's Men (anti-fascism), Patton (interventionism), and M*A*S*H (isolationism). Reelpolitik Ideologies in American Political Film establishes a paradigmatic analysis of political films that details the cyclical nature of ideological dialectic throughout American history and identifies the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the voters who choose not to affiliate with Republicans and Democrats, and who often determine the outcomes of elections. The text also includes an extensive ideological filmology spanning more than 100 years of American cinema. This study represents a bold investigation of the political and social values of American film, and is an essential text in the study of the relationship between culture and politics.

Web 2.0 and the Political Mobilization of College Students investigates how college students’ online activities, when politically oriented, can affect their political participatory patterns offline. Kenneth W. Moffett and Laurie L. Rice find that online forms of political participation—like friending or following candidates and groups as well as blogging or tweeting about politics—draw in a broader swathe of young adults than might ordinarily participate. Political scientists have traditionally determined that participatory patterns among the general public hold less sway in shaping civic activity among college students. This book, however, recognizes that young adults’ political participation requires looking at their online activities and the ways in which these help mobilize young adults to participate via other forms. Moffett and Rice discover that engaging in one online participatory form usually begets other forms of civic activity, either online or offline.