People whose opinions I respect and who know the Senator tell me he is a good, honorable, caring man. I also hope that’s true. But I mostly hope that he is a clever, calculating, ambitious politician with his eyes on the White House. He could of course be both; the best politicians know that good…
I took Speaker Ryan at his word – I was wrong
Eight weeks ago I wrote a piece for the Independent Journal Review arguing we should take Speaker Ryan at his word, and that if he violated his pledge we should call him out. He did, and I did.
Final Exam
Modern Political Communication and Rhetoric Spring 2016 Final Exam After four years at GW you launch into a successful career as a political strategist. The work is fun and financially rewarding. You help elect some good people, help advance some good policies, and generally carve out a good niche over a couple decades in D.C….
House Speaker Paul Ryan and America’s Civil Religion
My latest piece for the Independent Journal Review If our elected leaders are keepers of the faith of civil religion, and if politics is how we all express that faith, we have an obligation to both respect the position leaders hold and honor the politics through which we express our faith. Candidates and legislators…
Veepstakes 2016: Remind Voters of Differences
(Previously posted by Peter Loge on Medium.com) With the presidential nominating season lurching to a close (more or less-ish) pundit attention is turning to potential running mates. A dominant campaign theme this year is “they are screwing you,” with the “they” being a mix of bankers, political insiders, immigrants, minorities, foreign governments, and political hacks,…
“WE” Wins!
After the New Hampshire primary I wrote about a key difference between the victory speeches of Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders on one hand, and Secretary Hillary Clinton on the other. In their speeches Trump and Sanders used the word “we” a lot, while Clinton relied on the word ‘I’. Trump and Sanders, like their…
We The People vs. I The Candidate
Rhetorical scholars are among those least surprised by the success of Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Trump and Sanders are doing what teachers as far back as Aristotle said successful speakers do: Make the audience believe the speaker is one of them. Consider this passage from the Christian scholar Saint Augustine in the fourth century AD:…
Modern Political Communication and Rhetoric (Syllabus)
Classes start at The George Washington University next week, which means another spring of ranting about rhetoric and conversations trying to make sense of the campaign season. And as always there will be Aristotle. Given current political events, should be an eventful semester. Below is the current working draft of the syllabus with most of the logistics redacted:…
Talk Politics
America is a system based on the premise that no one person has the right answer to every issue, and that the best answers will only come from deliberation. Yet we discourage political discussion. We teach students the importance of volunteering at a soup kitchen or cleaning up a park, but never teach them to…
If Politics Is Local, Advocacy Should Be Too
In recent years the most successful policy advocates began using traditional campaign techniques to advance their positions, supplementing “shoe leather” lobbying with earned and paid media, social media, and local stakeholder engagement. They are now increasingly supplementing Washington work with local and state-based work. While Congress Shouts More (and does less) Who Is Filling the…