In Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, he recounts a speech Pericles gave at a funeral oration during the war. This main objective of this speech was to memorialize the fallen soldiers, while Pericles does just that this he is also sowing seeds of nationalism into the minds of his people. The power of speech is a power that is often overlooked, but popular leaders are able to use speech into their advantage. Leaders such as Winston Churchill in his Finest Hour speech, George W. Bush after 9/11, or President Obama throughout his campaign were all able to use this tool of speech to their advantage. The common theme we see in all of these leaders, is the ability to infuse their speeches with nationalism.
Everyone who has even glanced at a news source for at least a second since the start of this past summer know the slogan, 'Make America Great Again' and which presidential hopeful is using it. Since the start of the summer Donald Trump has either been at the top of the polling in the Republican Party and has been there largely due to his slogan, 'Make America Great Again' and his speech skills. In a recent article in The Washington Post, Marc Fisher writes that this slogan is reminiscent to people who believe that American has been on a downward trend since Reagan held office and those people believe that Trump can fix it. Trump may not be the best presidential candidate, nor will he win the Republican nomination but his speech skills and the nationalism he infuses with his speeches made him a heavy favorite in the Republican Party.
I would not agree that Trump infuses nationalism as I believe his success in the polls are due to his (and Ben Carson's) increased polarization of their statements. The candidates are focused on winning the primary election and only concern themselves with their individual party for the time being. This segmented population allows the candidates to make their statements attuned to their (desired) constituents. This results in more typically conservative statements from both Trump and Carson which reflect their high positions in the polls, whereas someone like Marco Rubio who is more centrist will have a harder time winning the primary than the general election because of the segment of the population that has a vote in the primary.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Trump is ahead because he is running a great campaign and is a great speaker or because he is taking advantage of something that it out there in the Republican electorate ready to be 'picked' so to speak? In other words, how much is the speaker and how much is the audience? This goes for Pericles as well...
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that Trump is getting all of his political support because of his nationalist speech. Although he has a strong slogan that appeals to a certain section of Republicans, I think his speech does the opposite for him. He says things that most people do not want to hear. I think he takes advantage of being outspoken and perhaps Freedom of Speech. He says what he thinks, regardless of what it may come off like to other groups of people. He takes advantage of being new and unconventional in politics as opposed to saying what people want to hear like other politicians might.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that many great leaders use speech as a tool to serve for their own interests. However, the speech made by Trump was one that we've never seen before. In my opinion Trump's unusual speech is just the opposite to what Republicans wished. Even though the speech, to some extent, sounds interesting, Trump has brought out the hate in too many people. Making the speech unprecedented and sound incredible might work, however, it might not work well if the speaker is over blatant. Anyway, I'm really shocked when he says: "The American Dream is dead" and I feel like he speaks like a "hidden racist".
ReplyDeleteYes i do believe that Donald Trump has used his ability to speak to top himself over his opponents. He has the ability to attack his fellow candidates when he exposes how most of them have come to him in the past for campaign contributions. Him being able to support his own campaign economically has been a great success portraying to the American people that he will not have to do any favors for anyone in the White House.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Trump has used speech to up his standings in the polls. Trump has a great slogan and great speech skills, both are tools that can be advantageous in a campaign. His slogan is something that is easy to remember and something that everyone can agree that they want for America, but a slogan can only get someone so far. Trump's speeches have been beneficial to his campaign in ways such as targeting other opponents flaws and by also bringing light to his ideas for his potential presidency. I believe that speeches can really add to a persons presidential campaign because it really shows who a person is. If the person cannot give a good speech to a crowd of people when they are not president, how can they give a speech to an entire nation when they are commander and chief?
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