Volume 13, Issue 1
Rhetorical Strategies of 2024 Presidential Hopefuls
Jim A. Kuypers
Introduction to special issue.
William F Harlow
President Donald Trump has drawn significant Republican opposition to his 2024 election bid. Much of that opposition has come from former Trump administration officials who are practicing a form of strategic silence by saying they will continue similar policies while using a more restrained rhetorical style. One of those officials was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. This essay examines the 2024 presidential campaign of Secretary Pompeo and uses it as the basis to make some informed predictions concerning the election next year. Keywords: 2024 Presidential campaign, Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, rhetoric of silence, strategic noise, strategic silence.
Patrick G. Wheaton
In February 2023, Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and former Trump ambassador to the United Nations, rescinded her vow not to challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and announced her candidacy. She made the announcement from Charleston and then promptly held campaign events in New Hampshire and Iowa, the traditional first primary/caucus states. In her campaign rhetoric, Haley has, to date, sidestepped questions about Trump, declaring that she is running against Joe Biden. This essay examines Haley’s early primary campaign rhetoric as she constructs Biden and the liberal left as her, and our, enemy, and identifies the important issues in contemporary national politics. Haley has discussed her jobs and education record as South Carolina’s governor and focused internationally on immigration, China, Iran, and Russia, drawing upon her experience in the UN. Haley has declared it is time for a new (presumably younger) generation of leadership, while also articulating
traditionally conservative policy positions. Keywords: Nikki Haley, presidential campaigns, political communication, political rhetoric.
Politics and the Future: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez As Rhetorical Educator
Carson S. Kay
The year prior to a presidential election is marked with public conjecture regarding which political figures will launch their presidential campaigns. This article focuses on one of those figures who has been the subject of periodic speculation: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Given the young representative’s vagueness regarding a presidential run and her emphatic conclusion that she will not run for Senate in 2024, Ocasio-Cortez’s future plans have yet to be defined. In this commentary piece, I argue that Ocasio-Cortez’s rhetorical choices suggest that she is not seeking the presidency in 2024. Rather, I believe that her communicative choices online and offline reflect that she is establishing herself in the House of Representatives as a communicative expert and educator. By revisiting memorable moments in Ocasio-Cortez’s public communication, I underscore why I conclude that she does not plan to run in the 2024 presidential race. Keywords: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, presidential candidates, presidential elections, political campaigns, political communication, rhetoric.
Ron DeSantis as Mainstream Radical
Jim A. Kuypers
Ron DeSantis had made national headlines well before being reelected governor of Florida by the largest margin seen in the past forty years, almost 20 full points, even as he had taken no national level interviews. A large part of his gain in national attention came through what I call a rhetorical strategy of “poking the bear,” with the bear in this case being the national media. By adopting the mainstream stance on a few key mainstream issues that the press, as a left leaning institution, would be certain to cover as controversial, even as radical, DeSantis was able to
position himself as a viable contender for the Republican presidential nomination, even as he had not announced his candidacy. Keywords: news media, political campaigns, political communication, political reporting, political rhetoric, presidential primary, Republican, Ron DeSantis
Challenges for the Second-in-Command: Kamala Harris as a Presidential Candidate
Ann E. Burnette
Vice President Kamala Harris is an unlikely presidential candidate in 2024, but she could mount a second run for the presidency in a future election cycle. When Harris launched her presidential campaign in 2019, she brought her experience as an Attorney General and US Senator from California to the race. She also generated excitement as a female, African American and Asian American candidate who could speak to multiple constituencies. This essay examines three rhetorical challenges Harris could face during a future presidential campaign: the rhetorical framing of her experience as vice president, the rhetorical framing of her gender, and the rhetorical framing of her experience as a bi-racial African American and Asian American politician. The rhetorical choices she makes and the media coverage she receives will affect her political opportunities as well as the opportunities of those who follow her. Keywords: African American political candidates, Asian American political candidates, double bind, Kamala Harris, political communication, presidential campaigns, rhetoric, women political candidates.