Toward a New Model for Campaign Discourse: A Narrative Critique of the 2008 Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar V

Abstract

The author engages discourses of stability and change by applying narrative criticism to the 2008 Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, a church-sponsored joint appearance between the two major U.S. Presidential candidates. The backdrop of religion, spirituality and God within American political discourse is not a new rhetorical phenomenon. However, this essay contends the event helped to propel faith discourse to an unprecedented level, underscoring the significance of faith-related issues in the public sphere.

Author

• Gregory D. Cook, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis