Authenticity Caught on Tape: An Analysis of Three American Political Gaffes

• In Event: 033 - Section on Political Sociology Paper Session. Political Discourse

Abstract

Political gaffes have long been characterized as belonging to the sideshow of electoral politics and inconsequential to the trajectory of political contests. While arguably the case in times past, today’s politicians are subjected to systematic and total surveillance by a hybrid media system. The result for those seeking public office is that all that they say and do is potential gaffe fodder for near-instantaneous distribution. We study three such instances, where two Senate candidates (George Allen and Todd Akin) and one presidential candidate (Mitt Romney) made gaffes that were widely disseminated. This paper analyzes these three gaffes as a social performance. Recounting the trajectories of the three gaffes allows for detailing the diverse methods by which news and new media were effectively mobilized by “carrier agents” – actors dedicated to making a politician’s misstatement into a meaning-laden event and keeping it newsworthy. These three gaffes proved particularly salient because they violated emergent norms of equality and inclusion in democratic public discourse and were interpreted as portraying authentic representations of these candidates. By exploring the consequences of the disappearance of a Goffmanian backstage, and the difficulty that political performers have consistently maintaining “authenticity” we emphasize the social processes of political gaffe making.

Authors

• Ian Sheinheit, State University of New York-Albany

• Cynthia J. Bogard, Hofstra University