Journal of Sociolinguistics 13/2, 2009: 223–248
On ‘flip-flopping’: Branded stance-taking in U.S. electoral politics1
Michael Lempert Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
This article examines stance in U.S. political discourse, taking as its empirical point of departure Democratic candidate John Kerry’s epistemic stance- taking in the televised 2004 presidential debates. Kerry’s stance-taking is shown to help display the characterological attribute of ‘conviction’ and serve as a rejoinder to critics who had branded him as a ‘flip-flopper.’ His stance-taking is thus not primarily ‘to’ or ‘for’ copresent interactants, but is largely interdiscursive in character. ‘Conviction’ and its opposite, ‘flip- flopping,’ suggest further how stance-taking itself has been an object of typification in the agonistic dynamics of candidate branding and counter- branding. In moving from epistemic stance-taking in discourse to models of the stance-taker as a social type, this article addresses questions about the units and levels of analysis needed to study stance in contemporary political discourse. KEYWORDS: Stance, politics, interdiscursivity, branding, debate, addressivity
CHERYL OTIS: Senator Kerry, after talking with several co-workers and family and friends, I asked the ones who said they were not voting for you, ‘Why?’ They said that you were too wishy-washy. Do you have a reply for them? JOHN KERRY: Yes, I certainly do. ((laughter)) (8 October, 2004. Second presidential debate, held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri) REMINISCING KERRY Presidential elections in the United States are preceded by ‘primary’ elections, in which the two major parties, the Democrats and Republicans, permit voters to narrow the field of candidates through a series of state-based elections and intra-party caucuses.2 On 30 October 2007, more than two months before the primaries began, the Democratic Party staged a televised debate in Philadelphia for seven of its candidates, which included front-runner New York Senator Hillary Clinton. At a certain moment, Clinton is pressed about her view on Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer’s beleaguered proposal to issue driver’s