Words and Ideas in the State of the Union, Part I

A few nights ago, President Obama addressed the nation with the State of the Union. I watched. If you don’t already know, I am not a very political person, but this year I’ve been trying to ecome more knowledgeable. (For my first experience with a political debate, click here!)

Similarly to that previous experience, I wasn’t sure what to expect and was a little nervous about keeping up. Like SotU teen guest Amy Chyao, “I don’t think I’ve ever watched the whole thing before”. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I understood and got out of the speech. This is the first of a two-part series of the SotU, and will focus on one of Obama’s rhetorical strategies.

I noticed that Obama peppered key phrases throughout his speech. I disagree with media trainer TJ Walker when he asserts that there were not “a lot of memorable phrases or sound bites”. I thought that Obama developed a few cohesive and effective expressions. He entertained the idea of the “American Family” as all citizens of the United States. This was representative of much of his narrative, as he tried to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans as much as possible. He generally did not reference either party individually and instead emphasized the need for them to work together. There would have been very different connotations if he referred to the American people as an army or a team.

I think this phrase channeled the unity he is seeking quite nicely and also promotes wholesomeness and supportiveness within the nation. However, it could be used pejoratively to separate the US from other nations.

Another key phrase Obama used was “winning the future”, which was used a total of 10 times during the address. (For a full transcript, click here!) I thought this set up an interesting metaphor: the future is a dichotomy that has only two possible results, winning or losing. This could be potentially dangerous as it also reiterates an us-versus-them mindset. In school, we discussed that a speech like the State of the Union (which aims to unify our nation, not appeal globally) is difficult to write without proclaiming American exceptionalism.

I wonder, is there really other way to do this? Can we promote ourselves without trying to outdo other nations? That might require a drastic change in metaphor. The US would have to recognize itself as a player on a global team, or maybe a nuclear family within a much larger family tree.

Want to see something cool? Here's a Wordle of the most commonly used words in the State of the Union address.

The Great Debate

Recently, I attended a congressional debate hosted at Glenbrook South High School between Robert Dold and Dan Seals. I heard about the debate in my social studies class, where our teacher strongly encouraged us to go for the sake of educating ourselves about our local politics and being involved in our historic democratic tradition (a.k.a. we would not be receiving any extra credit for attending). I decided to go because, like many of my classmates, I had never been to anything like it before. I’m not excessively interested in politics, but I’m beginning to see the importance of keeping up to date with current events.

The debate itself definitely exceeded my expectations. I prepared to be bored and confused, and happily, I was neither. Remarks were short and snappy, and clear enough that without any real prior knowledge of the candidates, I understood what was going on. I learned a lot about their views, but one of the things that struck me most was how catty and manipulative a professional political debate could be.

Immediately at the introductions, I noticed each candidate’s attempts to woo the audience, citing their accomplishments. I thought it was particularly amusing that Dold identified himself as a Boy Scout and Scoutmaster, titles which imply trustworthiness and loyalty, as well as a slew of other positive adjectives as laid down in the Boy Scout Law. Soon after the opening statements, while discussing tax cuts, Dold referenced the American Dream and nationalism, appealing to the feel-good patriotic side of potential voters. Not to be outdone, Seals followed by quoting Abraham Lincoln when talking about education and the No Child Left Behind Act. By appealing to emotion, I think both candidates were attempting to promote positive American and de mocratic associations with their campaigns, rather than the typical negative connotations associated with crooked Illinois politics.

Yet as the debate went on, it just got dirtier and dirtier. The candidates progressed from subtle barbs to full-blown attacks on each other, and needless to say, I found it to be quite interesting. I understood that it’s normal to try to undermine the opponent in a debate, but I never thought it would be so blatant. It was so interesting how their bickering and pointing out of each others flaws reminded me of typical high school cattiness.

While I was entertained, the debate left me unsure of my views. Between all the contradictions and generalizations, I (as well as many other teens) didn’t get a truthful experience. Maybe it just requires experiences and learning to read between the lines to determine what the candidates are really saying, and which one really means what he or she says. If I were able to vote in this election, I would definitely research more about the candidates and maybe even attend other political events.

As a 17-year-old, I am still too young to make my voice really heard by voting, but I do think it is important for teens to be involved in politics at some level. At the same time, we need to take care to not take everything at face value. It would be a terrible idea to form an unwavering stance from a biased Opportunities like local debates (publicized in schools) with class discussions and programs like Rock the Vote are great ways to involve teenagers and begin to involve us in the democratic system on which our nation is founded.

For adults, when did you first start paying attention to politics? How did you get involved, and how do you think this has changed for current generations?

For adolescents, are you involved? Why do you care? I’m still trying to find my way in this messy business, so I would love some guidance. Thanks!

(To read more about the what the debate covered and another teen's view, click here.)