The English of Politics - The Language of Barack Obama and John McCain

In democratic countries, a party and its leader must win elections to gain power. Persuading people to vote for a candidate or a party rather than another is then a vital part of the political process.

From a linguistic point of view, political campaigns are of great interest because they show language being used for a clear and central purpose: although politicians, with their speeches and written texts, want to inform and instruct voters about the main political issues, ultimately all the written and spoken texts that are produced during an election campaign have to persuade people to do one thing, that is, to vote in a certain way.

How this persuasive aim is carried out can vary hugely, ranging from negative campaigning, where candidates attack opponents rather than sell themselves, to more positive methods where candidates, especially those who are not yet in power, sell themselves as a brand new product, much better than the old one being currently used.

Thus, political discourse is characterized by a sort of direct relationship between the main exponent of a political movement and the audience, but it can also be seen as a conversation, a dialogue starting on the part of one organization, such as government, and provoking responses from others. For instance, through the lines of his/her speech, a candidate can directly challenge his/her opponents, or he/she can refer to their political views ironically, stressing what is wrong with their electoral programme and referring to his/her own one as the most suitable.

Language has an important role in this process of selling and promoting politicians’ policies, in that it uses a wide range of rhetorical devices as well as many linguistic techniques which help persuading the audience. This specific language, and the way it permeates politics, can be analysed, for example, in the numerous speeches which were given during the 2008 American presidential elections campaign, which came to an end on election day on November 4th. In particular, it is worthwhile to read and study the acceptance speeches of the two main candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain, which started the whole campaign, as well as Obama’s victory speech and McCain’s concession one, which instead marked the outcome of the elections.

Indeed, it is possible to identify in these four speeches some typical elements of political language, such as the use of images and metaphors which attract the public’s attention, the emphasis on certain concepts, the introduction of slogans, and a variety of other linguistic features some of which have already been discussed elsewhere in this thesis.