Abstract
ABSTRACTDrawing from linguistic and ethnographic data collected from Women for Obama, South Hills (WFOSH) volunteers and Obama for America (OFA) campaign operatives in western Pennsylvania during the 2012 general election cycle, this study examines metacommentary about the ideal form and function of citizen‐to‐citizen political interaction in the United States, focusing on the persuasive impact of language objects, mediation, and the construction of relatability in voter outreach, as well as subsequent assessments of outreach effectiveness. Voter outreach, considered as direct communication between local campaign volunteers and voters, was strategically advanced by both OFA and WFOSH for meeting campaign goals. However, clashes between volunteers and operatives reveal competing understandings of effective political participation within outreach interactions. This analysis suggests that operatives within contemporary data‐driven American political campaigns more and less overtly socialize citizens’ understandings of democracy in ways that can exacerbate polarization and devalue citizens’ knowledge and agency in political practice. [democracy, discursive political participation, political agency, language materiality and mediation, political campaigns, United States]
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