Features of Mitt Romney's Faith Speech - Coursework Example

Introduction Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, had delivered this speech ‘faith in America’ at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas on 6 December, 2007. The speech has special literary significance because it represents political ideology of a prominent statesman who aspires for the nomination of Presidential candidature of United States of America. The speech would be analyzed as per the ideological criticism of the literature norms. Ideology has been defined by Eagleton as a ‘relatively coherent but internally conflicting non-homogenous set of beliefs, representations and discourses inscribed in material practices and institutions,.. generated in part by the nature of economic production, which by constricting social reality in particular modes, contribute either to legitimizing,..subverting dominant forms of political powers’ (Eagleton, 2006). These set of common beliefs provide society with a semblance of strong social bondage thus facilitating living in comparative harmony and mutual trust. Eagleton, while propagating Marxist theory, was of the view that ideological literature is often used for projecting political ideologies and vested interests of individuals with the intention of influencing public at large. The text of the speech has been cleverly designed to influence the special human traits like forgiveness, compassion, tolerance and patriotism. The speech is especially significant because it was a crucial 2008 Presidential campaign for the republican nomination of Mitt Romney where his chief rival Mike Huckabee was fast gaining ground in the polls in late November. This focuses on faith because religion had become a favorite issue with the media and had played important role in 2008 presidential campaign. It also directly influences the sentiments and morality of the public at large. Romney has made conscientious effort to identify himself as a common man with a deep respect for religious faith and who recognizes the need for freedom of choice. The significant rhetoric of the speech, necessitate an in-depth evaluation. The semantics used and the objective of the speech therefore, require ideological criticism and we would be doing a critical analysis of the speech to find out the cause and effect of the text using rhetorical theory with cluster criticism. Historical background Religion and race have played crucial role in the 2008 Presidential campaign. Mitt Romney’s Mormon linkage has been no exception especially when the republican voters have shown less confidence in the Mormon faith. Mormon faith has come under lot of cloud and has often been compared to a ‘cult’ rather than as a ‘religious faith’. Romney has been the committed fourth generation member of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) which is better known as Mormons (Biography, Boston.com news). His family has been practicing the Mormon’s beliefs since 19th century and his father was a patriarch of LDS Church. Romney has been intensely involved in the missionary work and has even served as part time Minister and ‘Stake President’ of the Church. He is a non alcoholic and non smoker as per his religious beliefs. The former Governor Romney had long avoided taking about his Mormon faith and this speech is particularly important because he has talked about religion and diverse faith and presented himself as a deeply religious person who firmly believes that diversity of religion and race are vital ingredients of democracy and America has long been recognized as the country that has healthy tolerance towards other religious beliefs and cultural values. The ‘Faith in America’ speech has been written by Romney with the sole intent convincing the American public of his strong patriotism and his belief in exercising freedom in practicing religious beliefs of one’s choice. The speech is also a sort of last time gamble to win the confidence of the public or the voters in his Presidential Campaign for 2008 which has seen the gradual decrease in voters’ confidence in the recent past. Goals of the speaker The foremost objective of Romney was to persuade the American public to believe on his nomination for the presidential candidature. He needed to present a creditable personality that would gain support from not only republican voters but Americans at large. The second most important goal was to clarify his stand and support for the different faiths and reiterate his unbiased and secular endorsement for them. The speech was also crucial to build up his voters’ bank and retain a competitive edge over his rival Huckabee in the race for Presidential campaign in the coming polls. Romney also belongs to a faith that has undergone much controversy and he needed to clear the misunderstandings about his faith and boost his image. The speech was intended to create an image that is God fearing, secular in the outlook and that of a person who is committed to the welfare of American people. At the same time, Romney needed to assure people that though religion is part of people and a uniting factor but his political decisions would not be influenced by his faith or the doctrines of the Church, at large. Rhetorical barriers To meet the broader goals and objectives of the speech, the text of the speech needs to be carefully chosen. The rhetoric of the speech should be such that they are able to influence the public and convince them of the sincere intentions of Romney as future President. There are several barriers like the mindset of the people and controversial issues, which need to be addressed to instill confidence in the public for Romney’s presidential candidature. The foremost being that Romney’s faith does not have a widespread following and though rectified, its’ controversial stance on marriage which endorsed polygamy, still rankles people’s sentiments. The speech must ensure that Romney’s religious beliefs conform to the wider perspectives of core human values and societal norms and which would not interfere with his political decisions. It is also true that post 9/11, the secular image of America has undergone lots of bashing and lost the trust of the minorities, specially the Muslim population. Through the speech, Romney must be able to assure the minorities and restore their confidence on the state and its constitution. The last but not the least is the fact that the speech must touch the heart of the public and must be able to extol their support and significantly influence their voting pattern in his favor. Therefore, the rhetoric in the speech, need to be well targeted at various segments of the society, so that they achieve the wider goals and objectives of Romney’s presidential campaign. Rhetorical strategies In order to meet the challenges of the campaign, Romney has cleverly devised his rhetorical strategy for his crucial speech. The words and texts are cleverly used to put forward deliberate ideas and statements that would impact and influence the thoughts processes of others. Identifying traits and emotive responses of the target audience is one of the most important features of such works. The individual applies techniques and instruments that are designed to persuade others to his or her views in order to gain confidentiality and trust. The words and expressions used for thoughts, emotions and attitude play very important role in the foreplay staged for seduction of the public. Romney has blatantly used the technique to directly touch the patriotic flavor within the American psyche by stating in the very first paragraph that ‘when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise … willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation’. He has hinted similarities with the popular John F. Kennedy and his 1960 speech by saying that ‘almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president, not a Catholic running for president. Like him, I am an American running for president..’. He has used the religion plank to win the support of the masses and has made special reference and pledged to keep religious sentiments and doctrines separate from his political decisions. ‘I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law’ succinctly makes a statement of purpose. Romney has subtly shown that his family, through the times, has been prominently involved in the welfare of the masses and worked side by side with people like Martin Luther King to fight for the rights of the underprivileged and disadvantaged segment of the society. ‘I saw my father march with Martin Luther King’ has been deliberately designed to project him as a highly credible and trustworthy person who has inherited these traits from his erstwhile family. Throughout the speech, Romney has ensured that he takes up issues that every American can identify with and has made efforts promote his image as a person who empathizes with the issues and has sincere intention to work towards the common cause within the framework of American constitution and uphold the honor and dignity of Americans at all times and in all conditions. ‘A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States’, though a simple statement but it has a profound meaning for the common man. ‘A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith’ is a clever rhetoric that exhorts the people to vote on the basis of persons’ credentials and his overall background rather than solely on his religious beliefs. He knows that his Mormons beliefs is not so popular amongst the masses and may hinder the voting pattern of the public. This statement is subtly intended to prod the conscientiousness of the voters and influence their voting on the basis of wider perspectives. Effectiveness Ideological criticism is an important literary machination to inform and disseminate the hidden information and reveal the true intentions and objectives behind the so called spontaneous flow of words. A good critic tries to demystify the drama and bring forwards the true picture so the intended target can see the reality through the haze created by the proponent. So ‘the primary goal of the ideological critic is to discover and make clear the dominant ideology or ideologies embedded in an artifact and the ideologies that are being muted in it’ (Foss, 2006). According to Billig ‘an orator wishing to persuade an audience should not emphasise the gulf that separates their respective opinions. Instead, orators should try to match their controversial views with categories, which are familiar and well valued by the audience’ (Billig, 1987, p.194). Romney has successfully played on the emotive responses of his audience and has contrived to present his point in a manner that has appealed to the people. The speech, to a great extent, has achieved its objectives in gaining the confidence of the people. But subtle references to the legendary figures of the American political scenario and deliberate reference to his association with them has come under criticism. Reference of his father walking with Martin Luther King has not been substantiated and Bernstein in his report in ‘Boston Phoenix’ says that ‘Phoenix can find no evidence that the senior Romney actually marched with King, nor anything in the public record suggesting that he ever claimed to do so’ (Boston Phoenix, 21 Dec. 2007). The text of the speech was a well thought out strategy to deal with a particular situation. The powers of the words and the rhetoric used, made people believe in it and this was the purpose of the whole exercise! The gullible public was emotionally forced to reinvest their trust and social well being on someone who might not be the deserving person. The surreal aspect of the situation is enough to beguile the people, so much so that they willingly accept his rhetoric as his good intentions in the foreseeable future. Conclusion The speech ‘Faith of America’ has been the most widely watched event that has touched the emotions of the people. Mitt Romney has succeeded in reaching out to his audience in a way that few statesmen have done in recent times. He has succeeded mainly because he took up the topic of religion that is intrinsically linked to people and the fact that recent times have seen several controversies in the religious issues within the American society. Romney has also made efforts to clarify his stand on controversial religious issues and has made an impassioned appeal to people to look beyond the religion and vote on the basis of the candidate’s perspectives on issues which are vital to the national integrity, honor and freedom. As Romney says ‘the public support should depend whether the candidates ‘share these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty?’ Romney’s speech has all the ingredients that touch human emotions and he has used them with the express purpose of influencing his audience’ view and opinions. He has indeed succeeded in impacting the voting pattern which was hitherto, steadily declining. A good critic tries to demystify the drama and bring forwards the true picture so the intended target can see the reality through the haze created by the proponent. ‘So the primary goal of the ideological critic is to discover and make clear the dominant ideology or ideologies embedded in an artifact and the ideologies that are being muted in it’ (Foss, 2006). The speech has been analyzed and interpreted by the critics in the various media so that people understand the deeper meaning behind the rhetoric. But the people have been influenced by the oratory talent of Mitt Romney and his clever use of rhetorical text has prompted his targeted audience to put their trust in him. According to Burke rhetoric is defined ‘as the use of words by human agents to form attitudes or to induce actions in other human agents’ (Burke, 1945, p.41), which in the present case are religious beliefs and values. Romney has done exactly that and the public has appreciated his impassioned appeal and his sincerity in all his future endeavors which would be towards the welfare of the nation and the Americans at large. Reference Bernstein, David S. (21 Dec. 2007). Was it all a Dream? Boston Phoenix. Available from: [Accessed 24 June 2008]. Billig, M. (1987). Arguing and Thinking: A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Burke, K. (1945). A Grammar of Motives. Berkeley: University of California Press. Eagleton,Terry. (2006). Criticism & Ideology: A study in Marxist literary theory. NY. Verso. Foss, S K. (2006). Ideological Criticism. Available from: [Accessed 24 June 2008]. Making of Mitt Romney. Available from: [Accessed 24 June 2008]. Transcript: Mitt Romney’s Faith Speech. 6 December, 2007. Read More