As Election Day is here, it’s valid to ask: will the results bring the end of this long controversy over Hillary Clinton’s inbox? Elections cause lots of mudslinging, but usually this ends once the election is over and people get on board behind the newly elected leader. However, in many ways, including Trump claiming he may not accept the results of the election, there is reason to believe that this election could be different. Many people believe that this email scandal will follow Hillary into the White House even if she wins tonight.

Well said, Bernie. However, the end of the email discussion seems nowhere in sight.

Why?

Trump’s campaign has been feeding off the concept that the election and the political system are rigged. This powerful rhetorical strategy has many voters questioning the legitimacy of our democratic process, which is very dangerous for the stability of our country. As the election results unfold there are numerous opportunities for Trump to continue these claims, which he has already been doing these last days of the campaign. After FBI Director James Comey released a statement claiming that the FBI does not suggest any charges to be filed against Clinton, Trump stated:

“You can’t review 650,000 new emails in eight days. You can’t do it, folks. Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it, the FBI knows it, the people know it.”

Trump claims that the system is rigged and it is up to the voters to ensure that they don’t get away with it. Whichever way the election goes tonight, it seems that we will likely continue to hear rhetoric embodying this idea.

Furthermore

The Democrats are praising Comey for releasing the statement claiming they are glad it is “resolved”. However, the FBI says it’s normal for more evidence in this type of issue to surface. Plus, according to this article, they plan to further question Huma Abedin about why these emails were stored on her ex-husband’s computer. The FBI didn’t confirm or deny whether any were classified, they only suggested no further action in response to reviewing the new emails. So this all leaves a lot of Americans scratching their heads confused. If Hillary is to win, it is likely that these rumors will continue as each party gears back up for the next election cycle—the cycle that seems to never rest.

Implications

These claims have many American people questioning the government. It seems unlikely that people are ready to drop these email accusations. The rhetoric surrounding this election and specifically this email scandal has increased distrust in the government and further divided the American people.

Back Up

In case you missed it, last Friday the FBI revealed that emails from Huma Abedin are now under investigation in relation to the Clinton email scandal (catch up on the full story here). As the election is only a week away, this last minute “October surprise” has both sides talking.

What’s Being Said

As to be expected, the Republicans, especially Donald Trump, are jumping up and down. Last week a majority of the polls showed that Senator Clinton was ahead by a long shot. However, after this October surprise, according to a poll published by the Washington Post 34% of voters stated they are now less likely to vote for her.

On the other hand, there have been a lot of open accusations surrounding the announcement of this information. A lot of people are criticizing FBI head James Comey for releasing this information without the full story so close to the election.

Clinton’s Response

In what I would consider a good rhetorical strategy, the Clinton campaign has addressed these new email leaks head on. In the past her response to the email scandal has included a lot of avoiding and pivoting from the issue. However, this time she needed to address the new wave of emails more quickly because Election Day is around the corner. Hillary has challenged the FBI to release more information about the investigation. Her reasoning for this is that the emails have not yet been confirmed to contain any incriminating information. By directly calling upon investigators to reveal more information, she has attempted to convince voters that these emails are irrelevant. While it is clear from voter response that her strategy has not been very successful, it was the best political move for her campaign. In one article she is quoted responding to the FBI’s behavior saying:

“It is pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election,” Clinton said, adding, “It’s not just strange, it’s unprecedented and it’s deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts.”

Clinton supporters are also coming forward with similar statements. By directly responding and engaging in response to this issue, she is attempting to rhetorically create an image of innocence and transparency. I think the Clinton campaign has handled this much better than previous situations during this email controversy, although only time will show if her response effectively encourages voters.

One factor surrounding the Clinton email scandal is none other than Donald Trump himself. You cannot analyze the rhetoric of this issue without analyzing Trump and his campaign’s role. In political campaigns, it is important to keep the focus off your own wrongdoing. The more accusations or bad press that come out about Trump, the more he seems to bash Hillary on the email scandal. His jabs have seemed to get rougher and rougher as he has gotten in deeper water. For example, Trump recently said:

“Hillary Clinton is the embodiment of corruption. She’s a corrupt person. What she’s done with her e-mails, what she’s done with so many things,” Trump said recently.

By portraying Hillary as corrupt, or as he has also been known to say “a nasty woman”, Trump is trying to switch the attention off of him and onto her. He continues to attack her on the issue. However, this strategy can only work for so long. Trump appeared to have over-used this attack-defense, until he came out in the second debate claiming:

“If I win I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies so much deception” (see the full video here)

Trump took his counter-attack strategy one step further by claiming he will look further into having her held accountable for the issues intertwined in this email scandal and claiming that she has completely rigged the election. The main downside of his rhetorical strategy is that it also can turn people away from him because of his hateful words.

Whether you’re with her or with him, the rhetoric from both campaigns should be analyzed when addressing this issue. Just as often as Hillary has tried to pivot away from answering the tough email questions, Trump has continued to fuel the fire surrounding it. He will not let this go because it is his best strategy to distract the public from his own issues.

Oftentimes in political campaign communication, a candidate will use a pivot strategy to diffuse situations that reflect poorly on them. This communicative strategy is most often seen in debates when a candidate will avoid a topic they do not wish to talk about by pivoting the conversation to a topic they want to speak on. Hillary Clinton and her campaign used a similar strategy in an initial response to WikiLeak exposing thousands more emails from the Clinton staff.

According to a CNN article, the Clinton campaign responded to the issue by deflecting:

“It is absolutely disgraceful that the Trump campaign is cheering on a release today engineered by Vladimir Putin to interfere in this election, and this comes after Donald Trump encouraged more espionage over the summer and continued to deny the hack even happened at Sunday’s debate,” said Clinton spokesman Glen Caplin. “The timing shows you that even Putin knows Trump had a bad weekend and a bad debate.”

Instead of addressing any of the issues that came out in the emails, the response immediately attacks the opposing campaign. By using deflection as a rhetorical tactic, they attempt to shift the focus off Hillary’s emails by claiming that foreign nations should not play a role in our election and blaming Trump for encouraging Russia’s involvement. Although it is clear this pivot will not successfully work for everyone, it does provide a narrative for Hillary supporters to adopt. This response seems most effective as an immediate response, as opposed to later on, because it puts out a different controversy for voters to digest and gives the campaign time to gather all of the information needed to make further statements addressing the issue (likely at tomorrow’s debate).

Surrogates

Another important communication tactic employed through this response is the use of surrogates. Surrogate speakers are important during all stages of an election. There are certain things that candidates cannot outright say themselves, and I believe this response falls into that category. In order for an attack response to be most effective, it must come from a supporter of the candidate instead of straight from the candidate. This response is an example of a very appropriate and effective way to utilize a candidate’s surrogates.

 

Overall, the initial rhetoric used by the Clinton campaign fits with the current mood of this election. At this point the election seems to be a lot of mudslinging from both sides, therefore, in this case the response is more effective than usual.

 

 

Throughout the months of discussion around the email controversy of Hillary Clinton, there is one word that continues to appear: “transparency”. FBI agents used it during the investigation, voters have used it as they try to understand the situation, and Hillary has used it consistently.

Why Transparency?

As a rhetorical strategy for a political campaign, the word transparency provides strong imagery of honesty and openness. The use of this word as a strategy to project trustworthiness through an image of openness appeals to the voters’ logic and emotions simultaneously. During an election, voters are looking for a candidate that is not only capable but also likable and trustworthy. Voters do not vote based solely upon logic. Instead, voters are swayed by their emotions which in part determine their voting preferences. While we all know it is important to trust a candidate, voters also are more inclined to trust someone they picture as not hiding secrets from the public. An article from The Washington Post stated, “We should keep demanding complete transparency from both of them”.

In the realm of the Clinton email controversy, the rhetoric of transparency was an important strategy during the primary stage of the election. The primary stage is the time when the party front-runners are determined and candidates focus on feedback from voters. The voters were not pleased with the way Hillary first handled the investigation, so she adapted to a new strategy focusing on transparency for the voters. By redefining her image as transparent, Hillary began to change public opinion in order to secure her spot as the Democratic nominee.

How Much Transparency?

During an election, voters believe they have the right to know the truth from all candidates. Voter preference has been strongly linked to a candidate’s character. The new junkyard-dog style of journalism has resulted in the media constantly trying to dig up stories that draw into question a politician’s character. While most voters can agree transparency is important for political figures, there can be disagreement upon where to draw the line between private and public lives. This issue appears in the ongoing email controversy in terms of the “private emails” that Hillary either did not turn over or deleted.

 

Overall, it seems that adopting a rhetoric of transparency was a smart political communication strategy for Hillary during this time and will continue to allow voters to visualize her as more presidential.