first efforts

first efforts' top five viral videos of the 2008 campaign

5. Hockey Moms Against Sarah Palin.

4. Hillary and Sarah Decry Sexism in Politics.*

3. Joe Biden Would Take a Bullet for John McCain.*

2. John McCain Gets Barack-Rolled.

1. Hillary Clinton = Tracy Flick.

*Yes, SNL counts as viral video because, let's face it, nobody watches it past the first 10 minutes.

FDR Inaugurated! Universal Newsreels coverage from 1933

In these trying economic times, watching this just makes me feel better. I also love the little bit at the beginning about how "speedy planes" and "fast cars" carry the news "in the race against time to serve the newsreel public"...eat your heart out, CNN!

Overheard about my rhetorical criticism class

...by my stealthy rhetoric colleague, at a local campus eatery, just minutes ago...

[Female undergraduate to friend]: I have to go to class and analyze speeches. It's kinda weird, but the teacher is cool.

It's good to be cool, but I'm prouder to be weird...

Hooray for PA

 

Cecil seems glad we're home. Or at least that the suitcase is. Had a great time at Public Address - thanks to the Wisconsin folks for putting on a great conference at an outstanding venue. Professor Keynoter was his usual smart, prepared, engaging, funny self and was a sharp-dressed-man to boot (and as for those of you who assumed that somehow I had anything to do with his great look, I accuse you not of sexism but of a complete lack of attention to my obvious fashion illiteracy). Oratorical Animal, never actually seen but rumored to be hanging out in a gin joint across the street from the hotel, got his own share of shout-outs at the conference. There was smart stuff all around, and Joshie Juice even gave us the Dean Scream and Elvis, which of course made me think about FDR and radio. Awesome. Add to that a heap of love (or, as one conference organizer put it, a "Love Bubble") for this year's honoree, Karlyn Campbell, and you couldn't get much better. Except that you could, because I also had a run near the lake with jmsloop, a great visit with Niece #4, some good Wisconsin beer, and the usual pleasant time with friends. And, to top it all off, I got an idea for my next book project. Which rocks.

1 of 3

Off to the Public Address conference today. Looking forward not only to the awesome program (especially that keynoter guy), but also getting to see Niece #4 in Madison (she's a Badger sophomore). Am really feeling the need to get the heck out of dodge, I admit. Fortunately for me, there will be lots of getting the heck out of dodge in the next few weeks. This is the first of three weekends in a row of conferences for me. Nuts, I know, but the others will be excellent too. And by the time Oct. 15 rolls around, I'll feel as though the most hectic part of my semester is over. Which is nice.

Hey, things are looking up!

Judging from this morning's headlines, anyway. Happily, finally, we seem to have moved from "Did McPalin lie?" to "McPalin lied" to "What will be the fallout from all of McPalin's lies?" in a short few days. Not only are we using the word LIE, we seem increasingly interested in the notion that LYING IS BAD. Huzzah!

And, of course, there was also this: the media highlight of my weekend.

Rhetorical Criticism in the News, so far

When I teach rhetorical criticism I do a little activity I call "Rhetorical Criticism in the News," where the students and I (okay, mostly I) collect news stories about speechmaking, rhetoric, or pieces of rhetorical criticism we find in the media. When I/we find something I link to it on our course web site and often start off a class period discussing it. Doing this activity during an election semester is even more fun, because students start seeing this stuff everywhere.

Here's what we've got so far. Pretty good for only the third week of the semester! If you do something similar and have anything else to add, put it in the comments. I'm always looking for more to share with my students.

slate.com: "The Hottest Rhetorical Device of Campaign 2008"

Sept. 9, New York Times: Gender and Body Etiquette in Campaign 2008

Sept. 5, "The Words They Used": New York Times chart offering tag cloud of most commonly used words at DNC and RNC 

Sept. 2008, Atlantic Monthly: Journalist James Fallows writes about what he learned about Obama and McCain by watching debates

Aug. 28: Communication/rhetoric scholars quoted in a Rocky Mountain News article about expectations for Obama's DNC speech

Aug. 28: Time magazine article on How Obama Writes His Speeches

 

RNC, Wednesday edition: Where they stand on health care

 

 

[update: the Sept. 5 NYT has a great tag-cloud chart of the most frequently (or not) used words in both conventions]

DNC postscripts

The convention is over, but you can still check out the BAGnewsNotes archive of visual coverage and analysis. Michael Shaw and Alan Chin made an amazing team, and Chin's photographs are compelling, as always. Especially worthwhile is the Bill Clinton slideshow. It's only five images, but those five images say a heck of a lot about the man.

Staying up late (okay, late for me) and living with a live-blogger are exhausting. Especially when you have to get up at 6 to meet your running buddies the next morning. Tired of TV, last night I proposed a media blackout for a few days, as a way to decompress. But the horrified, "what about the Cubs?" look I got suggested that I was the only one interested in such decompression.

Now that McCain's picked a hockey mom instead of a hockey player, I suppose we'll have to turn our attention to the RNC next week. We'll be watching, and oa will likely do some live-blogging, though not as much as this past week. (I've been promised). I'll especially be on the lookout for how St. Small fares in the national spotlight. And how many times network reporters announce they are in "Minneapolis" instead of St. Paul. God, I hate that.

Hear ye, hear ye!

As part of the University of Illinois Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration, my rhetoric colleagues and I have organized the Lincoln's Rhetorical Worlds speaker series. From Fall 2008 through Fall 2009 we will bring five fantastic rhetoric scholars to campus for public lectures and visits to classes. For more info check out our new blog and bookmark it for updates.