Page 83 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

Rhetoric 67

One aspect of this belief – lowering taxes – is consistently popular with
voters; other aspects – cutting funding to programs such as education and
environmental protection, and loosening regulations that keep cor porate
power in check – tend to be viewed less favorably. Palin sought to downplay

the reduction of social services, and foreground the benefits of transferring
economic power from the public sector to private interests. Pay attention
to the way she rhetorically links tax cuts, the expansion of corporate
freedom, and the loosening of environmental protection to post - 9/11 fears
of terrorism and Islam. Also, note her use of personal anecdote to “ shrink ”
big, complicated issues such as the structure of the economy into a narra-
tive that garners an emotional, rather than an intellectual, response from
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the listener. It is a common rhetorical tactic, used by progressives and
conservatives alike. Do you believe it is an ethical practice? How do you
think Plato and Protagoras would answer this question?

Throughout Palin ’ s speech, we find many explicit references to rhetoric.
She mentions “ the cloud of rhetoric ” Obama produces in “ dramatic
speeches before devoted followers, ” and the “ idealism of high - fl own
speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great
things. ” This is set against the “ idealism of those leaders, like John McCain,
who actually do great things. ” She says Obama is “ a gifted speaker ” who
can “ inspire with his words. ” In contrast, Palin claims that “ John McCain
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has inspired with his deeds. ” Though we may fi nd it ironic that Palin

delivers these lines in an idealistic speech before a crowd of devoted fol-
lowers, it should not come as a surprise. Rhetoric is not a practice tied to
the political left or right, or even to politicians in general. It is general in
our lives. Note as well that her argument is not that different from that in
Fight Club , a film that also associates liberals with empty speechifying or

“ rhetoric. ” The alternative in the film is not that different from the one

Palin proposes – an ideal of pure action without much critical or intel-

lectual reflection of the sort educated liberals engage in. Many noted as the
Palin campaign unfolded that she appealed to the worst racist instincts of
many poor undereducated constituencies, people who do not understand
the world very well and are thus easy prey for the extreme right, which
appeals to emotion much more than reason and mobilizes resentment
against “ foreigners ” to assuage the pain of economic deprivation. That
deprivation often takes the form of debt, of course, and that is the target

of Fight Club . The overlap between the Palin campaign and the film is most
striking, however, in the history that lies behind right - wing appeals to the
poor and undereducated. When those appeals were most successful, in