Creatures of Politics: Media, Message, and the American Presidency. By MichaelLempert and MichaelSilverstein. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012. 263 pp.

Abstract

Creatures of Politics: Media, Message, and American Presidency. By Michael Lempert and Michael Silverstein. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012. 263 pp. In Creatures of Politics, linguistic anthropologists Michael Lempert and Michael Silverstein seek to examine how American presidential candidates convey message. The authors do not mean actual substance of campaign talk, nor on which a candidate runs, but often choreographed symbolism that suggests a candidate's moral character. A message, then, is a kind of personal brand or biographical aura (p. 100) that one associates with candidates, depending on constellation of signs that surround and emanate from them. These signs include not only candidates' words but also how candidates (mis)pronounce those words, pause among them, and manage (or fail to manage) gestures, clothing, and facial expressions. In addition, each candidate's message is structured by other political actors--spokespersons, agents from opposing campaigns, pundits, and reporters--all of whom seek to use a host of semiotic resources in order to craft candidate's characterological essence. In their wide-ranging analysis of message, Lempert and Silverstein examine speeches, debates, ads, interviews, and news narratives. The result is an often-fascinating study of contemporary electoral and journalism. First, in Chapter 2, authors discuss institutional necessity of messaging in political campaigns. Analyzing 2008 presidential contest, they show that even candidates who wish to rise above politics as usual (p. 42) inevitably brand themselves and their opponents in melodramatic terms. Chapter 3 investigates how a candidate's brand is related to whether and how that candidate appears to be addressing the issues (p. 105). In a revealing study of 2008 Democratic primaries, authors examine how politicians and journalists alike comanufactured Hillary Clinton's brand, creating impression that she had equivocated on an issue and implicating her as an inconsistent candidate. In Chapter 4, authors tackle what they term ethno-blooperology (p. 122), way innocent and not-so-innocent gaffes come to be seen as revelatory of a candidate's true character. They show, for instance, how Howard Dean's infamous 2003 scream was interpreted by commentators as evidence of his interior instability--and unelectability. Chapter 5 focuses on semiotic processes by which a candidate is identified as a flip-flopper (p. 145). Examining case of John Kerry in 2004, authors illustrate that both flip-flopping and resoluteness are constructed across a series of communicative events, as journalists highlight apparent inconsistencies in candidates' speeches and as candidates attempt to answer their critics by signaling conviction in their subsequent public performances. Then, in Chapter 6, authors consider relationship between message and body language. In a meticulous study of Barack Obama's hand gestures, they argue that body language indirectly contributes to a candidate's brand, especially as nonverbal signs are seized upon by pundits as proof of character type. …