It has been an interesting week in politics to say the least, even for this wacky Presidential race. The first major “October surprise” reared its ugly head this week and it did so in a very damning way. On Wednesday, video emerged of a conversation between Billy Bush and Donald Trump from 11 years ago objectifying women and bragging how fame and power has allowed him to do whatever he pleases with women. These statements caused many prominent Republicans to pull support from the man who was seemingly boasting about sexual assault. While old, these statements put his running mate, Mike Pence, in a very difficult situation and rumors quickly began to spread of the VP candidate dropping off the Republican ticket. Rumors only further spread as Pence issued an unprecedented critical statement at a Wisconsin rally, saying that he “does not condone his (Trump’s) remarks and cannot defend him.” The nerves of Republican party supporters were finally eased when Pence came to Trump’s defense at a Charlotte rally and reaffirmed that he would continue running alongside the Presidential candidate. He still did not support the nominee’s comment, but instead, focused on a value that is held near and dear to Republican voters—religion. Pence said, “My faith informs me we’re to hold up a Godly standard…while I don’t condone what was said, the other part of my faith is grace…We’re called to forgive as we’ve been forgiven.” In a very strong rhetorical move, Pence threw the average American voter into Trump’s situation, reminding us of the times we’ve made mistakes and then been forgiven, and then Pence asks those voters to forgive Trump in that same way. For weeks now, Pence has followed in the wake of Trump, gracefully winning back voters that may be discouraged or turned off by Trump’s antics and it has Republicans at all levels wishing it was Pence at the top of the Republican ticket. One final rhetorically strong move by Pence in the past week was a move the Clinton’s took when appearing on a 60 Minutes Interview during Bill Clinton’s sex scandals. Pence says, “It takes a big man to know when he’s wrong. And to admit it…And Donald Trump, last night, showed that he’s a big man.” Pence is trying to draw attention to a “strength” of Trump as to how he can identify when he has made a mistake and own up to said mistake, something Hillary has done little of during her campaign. While it may ultimately be an unforgiveable comment to the American people, Pence has taken a dire situation and made it a little more hopeful for Republican supporters through persuasive and supportive rhetoric.

As the 2016 presidential race progresses, the role and support of the vice presidential candidates is further developing for each candidate and is becoming more crucial with every moment, especially in Donald Trump`s case. Through rhetorical messages and strategies, it seems that running mate, Mike Pence is going to need to be more responsible for rhetorical messages and strategies that can help positively mend Trumps 2016 presidential race.

 
As Republican party politicians and members have been rescinding their support for Trump following the release of his 2005 tape resulting in scandal, Mike Pence explained at a rally on Monday in Charlotte that “it`s been an interesting few days.” As rumors have flown speculating that Pence may rescind his support and running position alongside Trump, Pence explains that Trump is a fighter and “literally embodies the spirit of America.” Pence has expressed that “my faith informs me to hold up Godly standard, but we all fall short of the Glory of God. There`s no one righteous, other than The One.” Through his apparent rhetorical strategy of appealing to religion, Mike Pence is attempting to mend Trump`s negative image in the light of the American people responsible for voting in the upcoming election just a few short weeks away.

Regarding Trump`s negative comments, Pence stated, “I don’t condone what was said. But the other part of my faith is grace…We`re called to forgive as we`ve been forgiven”, it is made obvious to the American people that Pence will not rescind his decision to stand by Trump in the presidential election. While this rhetorical strategy of appealing to religion through the messages and image Pence is portraying through his expressed faith, some supporters may shy away even further while others may personally identify with this faith and will also forgive Trump for his actions based on their faith as well and further support his position for president.

As Pence has been known for his devout Christian faith from the beginning, one cannot help but to wonder if the campaign has played on his faith as a rhetorical strategy in a way that wouldn’t be as necessary to express so intently if Pence wasn’t running alongside Trump. Focusing on Pence`s faith, he can be seen as a softer contrast to the bold and brash Trump for rhetorical purposes of attempting to help Trump win the presidential title. Comment your thoughts on the appealing to religion strategy it seems Pence is using to help mend Trump`s campaign. Do you think it is working or not working?  Check out this link to learn more about Pence`s Christian faith and see examples of rhetorical messages he has given that further demonstrate his appealing to religion rhetorical strategy I have identified.

Sources: http://religionandpolitics.org/2016/10/10/the-christian-worldview-of-mike-pence/

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Now Say You’re Sorry

The people of this country value respect for others when considering which presidential candidate to support, especially in this election. I am referring to both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Although these two people are our main focus within the political realm, it is also important to analyze how Tim Kaine and Mike Pence treat each other. What does the respect these two men have for one another say about their running mates? The cordial behavior these men show to one another is a mechanism used by both of them to make-up for each of their running mates behavior, language, and tone during the presidential debates.

Pence and Kaine vs. Trump and Clinton

During last Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, the two candidates disagreed about almost everything. However one thing Pence and Kaine have in common is the ability to actively listen and treat one another with the respect they deserve. During their first debate, there were significant differences in verbal and nonverbal communication among Kaine and Pence compared to the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump.

One of the most significant examples is when both Kaine and Pence are discussing the relationship between society and the police force. Both men tell personal stories in order to appeal to voters, and both of them respect each other during this time. Pence and Kaine show signs of active listening by making intentional eye contact, nodding in agreement, and not interrupting one another. Although their opinions differ, they remain cordial.

Trump and Clinton are asked a very similar question about the relationships between race, communities, and the police force, while Clinton is speaking Trump is restless. He sighs loudly, shakes his head, shifts his eyes, tells Lester Holt he is wrong, and then tells Hillary Clinton she is wrong. Clinton reacts somewhat differently. First she listens and looks at Trump, but when he is finished speaking she immediately shakes her head and sarcastically smiles. Even though she shows more politeness by listening, she immediately disregards all of the things Trump has said. Clinton knows how to cover her disrespect in more clever ways because of her years of experience in politics. Either way, these two people continue to act inappropriately.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Respect for any human is the one thing many uncommitted voters are looking for in potential presidential candidates. Trump degrades Hispanic people, Black people, Muslims, Veterans, women, and Clinton degrades Trump. The vice presidential candidates only tactic to prove to Americans that their running mates are respectful people is by respecting each other, and they did this by remaining absolutely polite and respectful to one another during their debate.

Watching the Vice Presidential debate I was shocked as to how the two pairs of candidates came to work together. Each Presidential candidate found a vice presidential candidate that would balance them out. Pence is the antithesis of Trump and Kaine is the antithesis Clinton.

In the Presidential debate I watched Trump interrupt Clinton many times, get too heated, shake his head forcefully when he heard something he didn’t like, avoid questions, avoid personal stories and push harsh questions towards Clinton. Pence on the other hand stayed calm, answered questions fully and with common language, connected with the audience, never raised his voice and spoke on his experience. Someone like Trump needs someone to balance him out in the race because if he didn’t then people would think he was just to much of a hot head. It helps the voters see that Trump will have much support from an experienced man in politics.

In the Presidential Debate Clinton stayed calm, avoided all attacks made by Trump, laughed off the little things, made snide comments to the audience to try to connect, spoke on her plans extensively, uses personal stories and answered to many different groups of people that may be on the fence. Kaine on the other hand, gets too heated when a topic that he doesn’t like comes up, interrupts Pence, uses political jargon, visually blushes and avoids certain questions.

These pairs are both a force not to be reckoned with. When the vice presidential candidate so perfectly compliments the presidential candidate only time will tell who will win this 2016 election.

24 hours have passed since Pence and Kaine “battled” it out in front of nearly 37.2 million Americans–the smallest VP debate audience since 2000– and now we, as Americans, can sit back and reflect on who was more rhetorically successful in reaching both the target audience and a much larger secondary audience. As someone who watched this debate and the first Presidential debate, it was near comical as to how opposite the Vice Presidential candidates appeared to their Presidential counterparts. As I watched the first debate, the arrogance Trump displayed could be summed up by interruptions, eye rolls, and uninterested facial expressions. Ironically, these would all be words I would use to sum up the way Kaine carried himself in the first VP debate. Kaine spent the entire debate attacking Pence on Trump’s sayings and insults of the past and focused little on tackling the issues or questions at hand. CNN writer Eric Bradner described the debate best when he wrote, “Mike Pence put a calmer, gentler face on the 2016 Republican ticket. And Kaine’s pestering style helped him do it.” While Kaine’s rhetorical approach may have been the least appealing of the two, Pence had flaws in the substance of his answers that conflicted with the Republican Presidential nominee that may reappear down the road. The Vice Presidential nominee took noticeably different stances on Russia and Syria than Trump has taken over the last few months and he recanted personal statements made about Putin in earlier debates and discussions. By breaking down the debate line-by-line, major flaws arise from some of the positions Pence took in relation to those taken by his running mate but, as noted by CNN, voters make their judgments on winners and losers of the debate based on the candidate’s tone and overall performance so Pence and the Republican party likely lost little ground by these differences between President and Vice President.

Overall, there was no clear winner or loser in the debate between the two Vice Presidential candidates. Both candidates emerged from the debate with minor rhetorical victories but there were also concerns, both with style and with substance, that need to be addressed before the second Vice Presidential debate if Independent and discouraged voters from both parties hope to have any more clarity when it comes time to vote in November.

Who`s Who?

Part of recognizing and analyzing rhetoric is to understand and interpret the communication of those providing rhetorical messages to any audience. Without knowing certain things unique to each rhetor, understanding and interpreting the rhetoric may be more difficult than if you had that existing knowledge and background information on each. Without knowing background information about each vice presidential candidate, it may be hard to understand and comprehend their specific rhetoric, especially during the first vice presidential debate that will take place tonight.

Before watching the debate, it may be beneficial to learn a little more about each vice presidential candidate because according to The New York Times, “polls show that roughly a third of voters have no opinion or have never heard of each running mate.” Even our very own GradyNewsource at UGA asked students on campus if they knew who the vice presidential candidates were and found the same overall results. Check out this link to see the video of our own peers at UGA who did not know who is running alongside each presidential candidate.

After realizing we may need more information on each candidate, below is a small bullet list of important bits of information about each vice presidential candidate that may be helpful to know and may help better recognize rhetorical messages and strategies used by both candidates during the debate tonight.

Democratic Party Vice Presidential Nominee: Tim Kaine

• US Senator, Virginia currently serving first term
• Position of chairman of the Middle East subcommittee in Senate in July 2013
• Served as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010
• Bachelor`s degree from University of Missouri, law degree from Harvard Law School
• See this link for more

 

 

 

Republican Party Vice Presidential Nominee: Mike Pence

• Governor, Indiana elected in 2012
• Previously served 12 years as a congressman from Indiana representing the Sixth Congressional District
• During time in US HOR, he served as House Republican Conference chairman and chairman of the House Republican study committee.
• Bachelor`s degree from Hanover College, law degree from Indiana University
• See this link for more

Now that you know a little more information about each vice presidential candidate than you may have previously, take this quiz to see how well you know Tim Kaine and Mike Pence. Comment your scores below.

 

 

Sources: http://www.politifact.com/personalities/mike-pence/

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Not to Worry

Donald Trump could not have selected a more appropriate candidate to stand alongside him during this 2016, presidential election. This is because Pence embodies almost every aspect that Trump lacks, as described by The Chicago Tribune. Mike Pence is the level-headed governor of Indiana and served in congress for twelve years. He is also one of the republican parties’ greatest advantages because of his years of experience and temperate demeanor. Pence and Trump are truly the perfect fit for each other as you can see in this political cartoon. Pence is obviously depicted as the more reliable one in this image, which would lead one to think, ‘Why isn’t he the face of the party?’ After describing himself as a ‘B-List Republican celebrity,’ one might insinuate that he is truly taking on the role of Trump’s guardian angle who stands in the background always ready to swoop in and remodel anything that might come out of Donald Trump’s mouth.

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What’s Next…

In the vice presidential debate, which airs tomorrow night, many claim governor Pence is going to have his work cut out for him because of Trump’s tax returns that were released in the past 24 hours. Some of these documents show that Trump lost about 900$ million dollars in 1995 due to bad business deals, according to Today’s Skimm.  After Trump’s decent performance at the presidential debate last Monday, we will see just how articulate governor Mike Pence is at rephrasing his fellow runners sometimes incompetent ideas and accusations. Will he be able to comfort republican voters who are torn about this decision? I guess we will see.