jct74
10-31-2014, 10:27 AM
Rand Paul: Master of Political Message-Switching
In his speeches, Paul shows how good he is at tailoring his message to fit his audience. But that could come back to bite him as he goes national.
BY EMMA ROLLER
October 24, 2014
Sen. Rand Paul is something of a political shape-shifter. That is not to say he's a hypocrite; what it does mean is that Paul is, perhaps singularly in the field of potential 2016 contenders, an expert at tailoring his message to the audience he is trying to win over.
Just review the speeches he's given to different crowds over the past year. You'll find that the tone remains consistent, along with a few catchphrases—"a man coming over the hill singing," e.g.—but the substance of his speeches varies almost completely.
Even his literary references run the gamut. Paul, who has been described as a "voracious reader," often quotes from novels in his speeches—a departure from the Bible-and-Founding-Fathers set of quotables that most politicians reheat in every speech. And it's pretty easy to figure out why he quotes what he does where he does.
When he spoke to black students at Howard University in the spring of 2013, Paul referenced the work of one of its most famous alumni.
"I take to heart the words of Toni Morrison of Howard University, who wrote: 'If there is a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it,'" Paul told the Howard audience. "I can recite books that have been written, or I can plunge into the arena and stumble and maybe fall, but at least I will have tried."
Speaking at the University of California, Berkeley in March, he quoted a passage from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to draw a parallel to surveillance by the National Security Agency.
...
read more:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/rand-paul-master-of-political-message-switching-20141024
In his speeches, Paul shows how good he is at tailoring his message to fit his audience. But that could come back to bite him as he goes national.
BY EMMA ROLLER
October 24, 2014
Sen. Rand Paul is something of a political shape-shifter. That is not to say he's a hypocrite; what it does mean is that Paul is, perhaps singularly in the field of potential 2016 contenders, an expert at tailoring his message to the audience he is trying to win over.
Just review the speeches he's given to different crowds over the past year. You'll find that the tone remains consistent, along with a few catchphrases—"a man coming over the hill singing," e.g.—but the substance of his speeches varies almost completely.
Even his literary references run the gamut. Paul, who has been described as a "voracious reader," often quotes from novels in his speeches—a departure from the Bible-and-Founding-Fathers set of quotables that most politicians reheat in every speech. And it's pretty easy to figure out why he quotes what he does where he does.
When he spoke to black students at Howard University in the spring of 2013, Paul referenced the work of one of its most famous alumni.
"I take to heart the words of Toni Morrison of Howard University, who wrote: 'If there is a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it,'" Paul told the Howard audience. "I can recite books that have been written, or I can plunge into the arena and stumble and maybe fall, but at least I will have tried."
Speaking at the University of California, Berkeley in March, he quoted a passage from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to draw a parallel to surveillance by the National Security Agency.
...
read more:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/rand-paul-master-of-political-message-switching-20141024