As November 8th rapidly approaches, candidates and their respective parties are making strong, last minute pushes in certain battleground states trying to ensure the victory of their candidate. Both Mike Pence and Tim Kaine have been very active and in the spotlight the last few days, traveling from speech location to speech location to potentially influence on-the-fence voters who have not yet cast their vote. Kaine and Pence both were set to be in Iowa this week, trying to win a swing state that has generally predicted the election over the last few decades. It was in this state on November 1st when these two candidates were set to speak and meet with community members that an interesting rhetorical situation presented itself. On the morning of November 1st, two Des Moines police officers were ambushed and shot in the their police cars, dying instantly. Both candidates were set to speak just hours later in the same city. As Tim Kaine and Democrats quickly canceled their speech and visits that day, Mike Pence rushed through a speech so that he could go and visit the slain officers memorials and be with community members who were hurting. Pence was quick to approach the chief of Police, saying “The whole nation is thinking of you. How are the families doing?”
This was a strong rhetorical move by Pence and the Republican Party as he showed himself as the strong, supportive leader that this country seems to need in days like these where police shootings and shootings of police are becoming more and more common. On the other hand, it was an equally powerful rhetorical move by Kaine and the Democratic Party as they got to use this issue as a talking point to further their campaign. While some voters may be upset that Kaine was so quick to cancel his speech and flee from the frontlines of Des Moines unlike Pence, he did take time to speak with Time Magazine about the “public health crisis” that is gun violence. While it may seem a little distasteful to use such a recent event to further one’s agenda, Kaine focused mainly on past events, touching on the shootings at Virginia Tech and other historical shooters while saying that he is a proud gun owner and 2nd Amendment supporter but that these issues needed to be addressed and they needed to be addressed now.
Kaine and Pence took two very different rhetorical approaches in addressing the shootings in Des Moines. While Pence made himself present and was supportive to the community in the spotlight, Kaine was supportive from a distance but presented solutions to the issue at hand. While both moves were strong in their own regard, it will be interesting to see if it has any effect on voters as we get closer and closer to November 8th.