Danby Persuasive Speech
On Message: Why the Democrats Lost, and Will to Continue to Lose
An HPRgument by Nick Danby
Twenty-four years ago a charismatic and slick governor of Arkansas usurped the presidency after twelve years of Reaganomics and a Republican in the White House. Despite his opponent, sitting President George H. W. Bush having a 90% approval rating following the successful ground invasion of Iraq, Americans’ opinions turned sharply negative when more than a year later in August of 1992, 64% of Americans disapproved of Bush’s performance. Capitalizing on that anger and frustration, Bill Clinton and his campaign strategist James Carville came up with the theme “The economy, stupid.” The phrase, which Carville consistently said over and over again to …show more content…
After eight years of the tech bubble and Clinton economic prosperity, Vice President Al Gore was destined for the presidency; all he had to do was talk about the economic success of the Clinton administration and how he’d carry that over. Of course, Gore didn’t focus his campaign on the economy and he lost the election. What Gore focused on was his thoughts on George W. Bush’s inept ability to lead and the danger he posed to the country if he became the chief residence of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In essence, Gore downplayed his policy message, and played up how incompetent George Bush was, through speeches, or the famous repetitive sigh during the debates. The same thing occurred in 2004, when then-Senator John Kerry continued to talk about how foolish Bush was and began to belittle his opponents and their voters—despite the odds, Bush won the election …show more content…
Consequently, Obama won the election, and won it again in 2012 when he didn’t ridicule Mitt Romney, but instead engaged in a substantive discourse about the economy throughout the election. This brings us to today. How does talking about the economy, and not your thoughts on your opponent lead to you losing an election? Simple. The Rust Belt voters which Clinton lost this year, and the middle-class Americans who have seen their wages stay stagnant while their productivity increase, do not care one ounce about the lack of experience or lack of proper grammar that your opponent has. Politics is selfish; the people care about which candidate is going to help them. Unfortunately for Democrats and Hillary Clinton, she didn’t do that. Hillary Clinton’s message consisted of “I’m With Her” a selfish slogan directed completely towards herself; or, “Love trumps hate”, a slogan which includes her opponent’s surname! Such a slogan is foolish, since President-elect Trump has shown us that there truly is no such thing as bad
An HPRgument by Nick Danby
Twenty-four years ago a charismatic and slick governor of Arkansas usurped the presidency after twelve years of Reaganomics and a Republican in the White House. Despite his opponent, sitting President George H. W. Bush having a 90% approval rating following the successful ground invasion of Iraq, Americans’ opinions turned sharply negative when more than a year later in August of 1992, 64% of Americans disapproved of Bush’s performance. Capitalizing on that anger and frustration, Bill Clinton and his campaign strategist James Carville came up with the theme “The economy, stupid.” The phrase, which Carville consistently said over and over again to …show more content…
After eight years of the tech bubble and Clinton economic prosperity, Vice President Al Gore was destined for the presidency; all he had to do was talk about the economic success of the Clinton administration and how he’d carry that over. Of course, Gore didn’t focus his campaign on the economy and he lost the election. What Gore focused on was his thoughts on George W. Bush’s inept ability to lead and the danger he posed to the country if he became the chief residence of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In essence, Gore downplayed his policy message, and played up how incompetent George Bush was, through speeches, or the famous repetitive sigh during the debates. The same thing occurred in 2004, when then-Senator John Kerry continued to talk about how foolish Bush was and began to belittle his opponents and their voters—despite the odds, Bush won the election …show more content…
Consequently, Obama won the election, and won it again in 2012 when he didn’t ridicule Mitt Romney, but instead engaged in a substantive discourse about the economy throughout the election. This brings us to today. How does talking about the economy, and not your thoughts on your opponent lead to you losing an election? Simple. The Rust Belt voters which Clinton lost this year, and the middle-class Americans who have seen their wages stay stagnant while their productivity increase, do not care one ounce about the lack of experience or lack of proper grammar that your opponent has. Politics is selfish; the people care about which candidate is going to help them. Unfortunately for Democrats and Hillary Clinton, she didn’t do that. Hillary Clinton’s message consisted of “I’m With Her” a selfish slogan directed completely towards herself; or, “Love trumps hate”, a slogan which includes her opponent’s surname! Such a slogan is foolish, since President-elect Trump has shown us that there truly is no such thing as bad