Cultural Influence of Storytelling: An Examination of the Use of Narratives in Political Campaigns

Television has changed political discourse. The thirty second commercial has replaced typography and rhetoric. After losing the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, the Republican National Committee concluded that the GOP has lost the ability to persuade. Walter Fisher\u27s Narrative Paradigm states that meaningful communication is in the form of storytelling, which enables public discourse to observe not only differences, but commonalities. In a postmodern culture that does not believe in absolute truth, this study asked the following question: Are conservatives still using statistics and facts to communicate conservative principles? The rhetorical research conducted here examined the 2013 gubernatorial race in Virginia, specifically television advertisements, to describe, analyze, and compare the rhetoric in campaigns, specifically the narrative elements. As evidenced in this study, conservatives are communicating using rational rhetoric, statistics and facts. Using only 17 percent personal narratives, the Republican candidate\u27s ads failed to provide identification and realism, but the Democrat candidate captured the audience by using narratives 100 percent of the time and first person narratives 66 percent of the time