Since Hillary is trailing Obama by 1354 to 1263 delegates after the Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries, Clinton must step up her game. In recent news, Hillary has made attacks on Obama’s speaking techniques, commenting that “if your whole candidacy is about words, then they should be your own words,” according to www.cnn.com. Unfortunately for Clinton she has had to resort to legit incivility.
Clinton has tried competing with Obama on issues but to stay in the primary election, she must bring mean-spirited communication. The material Clinton brings against Obama of “lifting rhetoric” from Senator Deval Patrick is irrelevant for the public. Obama recognizes his actions and comments on the friendship between himself and Patrick. There is no need to continue the story publicly—using Patrick’s words with his blessing has nothing to do with Obama’s political stance or the way he governs. Hillary is basically grabbing at straws to cut down Obama’s winning streak. I think Clinton has realized she cannot stop Obama’s current streak and he has won over the people.
What Hillary says about Obama’s recent speech on Saturday in Wisconsin; Obama is quoted saying, “Don’t tell me words don’t matter! ‘I have a dream.’ Just words. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ Just words. ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ Just words, just speeches!” These are the words said by Senator Patrick in 2006.
Obama counteracts Clinton by pointing out use of his words in her speeches. According to the Washington Post; Obama noted that “Clinton seemed to borrow lines from him, including his signature rallying cry ‘Fired up! Ready to go!’” I think Obama takes the high road during this mud slinging when he says its no big deal, and according to the Washington Post he also says, “When Senator Clinton says, ‘it’s time to turn the page’ in one of her stump speeches or says she’s ‘fired up and ready to go,’ I don’t think that suggests that she’s not focused on the issues she’s focused on.” This says a lot about the kind of administration Obama would run, and the kind of politician he is. He is concerned with the issues at hand; not with taunts from opponents.
Clinton has also run television ads stating Obama has refused to debate her. Is this what communication in politics has come to? Mindless taunts from irrelevant, invaluable information? If Hillary has run out of options to defeat Obama, she should stick to her issues and confront him with her promises of action—not words that don’t matter to anyone. Hillary has begun using the Rogerian Argument for ideal political communication when she is threatened as an individual and shuts down her motives and starts attacking Obama. According to CNN, “Clinton has argued that while Obama provides rousing speeches, she has the stronger grasp of the issues and the knowledge of how to use the presidency to start making changes from ‘day one’”. I think Clinton should stick to this statement that helps her sound like the better candidate. By making this statement she enforces that his political promises are just words I think she should have developed her argument better and used that—rather than discussing his plagiarism of another speech.
5 Comments:
This blog highlights the importance of being a dynamic speaker as a candidate for the presidential election. Hilary has been accused of "stealing" some of Obama's campaign taglines even though she argues that his words are just words and do not mean that he has a firm grasp on the issues at hand. Hilary is contradicting herself here and it is NEVER a good thing to be wishy washy like that when it comes to politics.
I completely agree with what both Emily and Kristen are saying about these heated attacks stepping further away from the real issues. But one has to think.. can you blame Hillary for trying to break Obama down in the polls any way she can? It kind of goes back to the idea of being the "lesser of two evils." Also, this topic really brings to light how important it is in the election process today to be a good speaker. President Bush is constantly being scrutinized for his mess ups, and although being a good public speaker is not necessarily synonymous with being a good leader, it sure does make a difference in the eyes of the voters.
Communication is not "pointless". After the Obama campaign continuously accused Hillary of verbal usurpation of tag lines, it turns out that Obama was taking parts of now- Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick's campaign speeches. Obama's people call it a "coincidence", but it seems a bit suspicious, regardless of who you are supporting.
Dynamism as a female trait is not something supported by the language theory and it may make things difficult for Hillary in this arena.
I definitely agree with kristen and Lynda about how these outbursts are incivil. I hate to say this, because it is against what many Saint Mary's women think, but Hillary needs to act more like a lady for me to want to treat her like the Mature intelligent politician that she is. Go Barack.
For a communication class, Hillary's criticisms of Obama for being just about words are important to think about. Our discipline makes a pretty convincing case that the dichotomy between words and actions often is a false one. About the plagiarism issue, I think it's worth comparing the two candidates' plagiarizing and asking whether they are comparable or is one more egregious than the other? Of course, that assumes that it's a relevant issue for the campaign--which Emily (and others) argues that it's not.
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