2012 Democratic National Convention
In 2012, President Barack Obama was up for re-election and was facing Mitt Romney in a tight race. The Democratic National Convention was being held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Although Martin O'Malley wasn't the keynote speaker, this speech was important for his potential 2016 presidential campaign. He was there to support President Obama and help get him re-elected, but he was also there to show fellow Democrats that he was a serious contender for the 2016 presidential bid.
Political Language
Speakers at the DNC are usually politicians that are already well known and have great political accomplishments, or they're up and coming politicians. In 2004, Obama was the keynote speaker at the DNC and delivered the speech that put him on the map. People were blown away. That's what the DNC can do for a Democratic politicians' career. For these reasons, Martin O'Malley's DNC speech in 2012 was greatly important. In this speech he could show support for fellow Democrats while also promoting himself as a potential candidate in 2016.
Generating Political Support
Political language can be used to help politicians in many ways. One way that the political language in this speech helped Martin O'Malley was by generating political support. Before a candidate can become the Democratic nominee for president, they have to go through the primary election and run against fellow Democrats. That makes the DNC the perfect time and place to gain political support from the Party. Martin O'Malley did just that in 2012. Not only does he discuss the many accomplishments of Obama and give the audience many reasons to re-elect him, but he also talks about the many accomplishments he has had while governor of Maryland. He gives examples of how he has moved Maryland forward and hasn't looked back. He speaks of the progress that Maryland has seen in its schools and economy. He hits on issues of safety, job creation, medicare, poverty, education, ect. O'Malley's main theme was progress and moving forward, which is a very large theme within the Democratic Party.
Political Symbols
When I think of Democrats there are many words that come to mind, but one of the most prominent is "progress." In almost any speech given by a Democrat, I would bet you would hear the word "progress" multiple times. "Progress" is a significant symbol within the Democratic Party. When it is used by a Democrat for a Democratic audience, "progress" has a common meaning. It was smart for Martin O'Malley to make progress and moving forward his over arching theme for the speech. It showed that he shares common values with the Party and it helps promote him as a potential 2016 candidate.
Another way we see O'Malley use political symbols is when he tells the story of the 400 Marylanders who "saved the American army" in the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War is a symbol of America itself. Using this war in his speech, O'Malley was able to remind people of how great this country is. The Revolutionary War is a symbol a freedom and triumph, it's a story of overcoming the impossible and defending democracy. These were all important feelings that O'Malley was trying to invoke in his audience. To remind his audience of why this is a great country, and why we need leaders who plan to keep our country strong.
O'Malley's story also has another important meaning - it was Maryland who saved America back then, and in 2016 it will be a Marylander who saves America again. Our country is in trillions of dollars of debt and we are facing a partisan stand off that is preventing our government from getting anything done. The fact is, D.C. politics have to change if we are going to restore America to its true glory. Martin O'Malley uses the symbol of the 400 Marylanders in the Revolutionary War as a way to get the message across that he is the leader (from Maryland) that can restore America.
Functions
Agenda setting is a function of political language that O'Malley uses during this speech. He hits the issues of education, job creation, and safety rather hard. Now that he is a politician that people are speculating will make a serious run for president in 2016, his website reveals that his main platforms are indeed education, job creation, and safety. He used this speech to set up his agenda for his campaign in 2016.
Interpretation and Linkage are another function of political language that we see Martin O'Malley use in this speech. He was able to define education, job creation, and safety the way that he wanted to. This manipulates how the audience perceives those issues. People vote for candidates that have the same perceptions of major issues as they do. This is why it was important for O'Malley to define education, job creation, and safety, and get the audience to perceive those issues as he does.
Reflecting on the past and predicting the future is an important function in O'Malley's speech. He talks about the war that gave America its freedom and is the very foundation of this country. It allowed the audience to remember what it truly means to be an American. Putting that together with a prediction of the future was very powerful. His predictions were that with a Republican leader our country would move backwards instead of forwards, and that would be detrimental to our country. Since his audience was just Democrats, this was an effective use of this function. No Democrat wants to see this county go backwards. O'Malley was playing off of that when talking about the future. In contrast to his predictions of the future with Republican leaders, he discussed how Democratic leaders will keep moving America forward, and provide our country with progress.
Action stimulation is the last function of political language, but it is perhaps one of the most important. The whole reason Martin O'Malley was giving this speech at the DNC was to try and help get President Obama re-elected. This goal was accomplished. However, action stimulation doesn't just refer to a physical action like voting, but it also refers to the stimulation of public discussion. Not only did this speech introduce O'Malley as a serious politician in America, it also got the public talking about him as a serious candidate in 2016.
Conclusion
Political language is important to every politician, whether they are running for office or not. It is how politicians get their messages to public and how the public perceives those messages. Martin O'Malley's 2012 DNC speech was his introduction to the country. Marylanders know him as one of the most accomplished governors, and this speech was his chance for Democrats nationwide to get to know him as a competent leader as well. Since other potential candidates have big political names like Clinton and Bush, it's important that he introduced himself to Democrats as someone who may not have a well known name but is a leader they can count on. He did that by using his political language to create common meanings and talk about shared values to fellow Democrats. Martin O'Malley's 2012 DNC speech was the beginning point of his bid for the 2016 presidential campaign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dnc-2012-maryland-governor-martin-omalleys-speech-full-text/2012/09/04/71a527a8-f6f8-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRhCP50h8bM
http://martinomalley.com/
While O'Malley was directly addressing the members of the Democratic National Convention, who do you think his implied audience was?
ReplyDeleteJeemin - I think O'Malley's implied audience was both Democrats and Independents. I think one of his goals from this speech was to get more name recognition throughout the Party.
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