Romney, Obama, and the 47%: gaffes and representative anecdotes in the 2012 presidential campaign

ABSTRACT

This article uses the vocabulary provided by scholarship on gaffes, narrative paradigm, and representative anecdote to suggest that both the Obama and Romney campaigns employed Mitt Romney's leaked “47%” comment as a Burkean representative anecdote in the 2012 election. The elevation of the leaked comment was possible because the gaffe held narrative fidelity for the stories proposed by both campaigns, but narrative coherence and transcendent values became contentious aspects of the respective narratives. Critically analyzing divergent meanings assigned to the leaked comment opens space to discuss the role gaffes play in campaign narratives, complicates contemporary understanding of gaffes and their integration into broader political campaigns, and illuminates the impact of particular rhetorical constructions on campaigns and public policy.

KEYWORDS:

• Romney
• Obama
• representative anecdote
• 47%
• political gaffes

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge gratitude for the help of Mitchell McKinney, Elizabeth Dudash-Buskirk, Eric Morris, and Spencer Harris, and the anonymous reviewers for their generous and robust feedback.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest existed in the completion of this research.

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Notes on contributors

Calvin Coker

Calvin R. Coker (MA, Missouri State University, 2012) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri. His research program focuses on the rhetorical construction of marginalized populations in public sphere discourse.