Election Campaign Language
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Presidential debate John McCain Barack Obama Black and white 08
Originally uploaded by Haneybabe
There is a great thing that can be done with language in our culture, that is, the rules of politeness are suspended during presidential elections. We are allowed to call presidential candidates names, tell lies, and alter the pragmatics of the language. This is an old practice and we take great pride in it. Our parents should teach us never to use vulgar language except during presidential elections. Cindy McCain, for example, said, “Barack Obama is conducting the dirtiest campaign in history.” Historian Kathleen Hall Jamison tells us that our founding fathers intended our elections to be dignified. Elections were to be a dignified, deliberative activity, carried out by a few wealthy men. In 1796 Benjamin Franklin’s grandson wrote of Washington: “If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington.” Things didn’t begin well.