Checklist: Images & Issues

The basic claim in election campaign rhetoric can be summarized in one single sentence:

"I am competent and trustworthy;
from me, you'll get more good and less bad."

This statement has three claims about the virtues of the speaker. The two obvious ones are "competent" and "trustworthy" corresponding to the traditional division of the intellectual and moral virtues. The hidden claim here is that of being a "benefactor," a benefit-giver: "From me, you'll get...."

Thus, these three claims correspond to Aristotle's concept of the ethos, the desirable projected "image" of the speaker as being expert, sincere, and benevolent. Or, as some translators phrase it, as having good sense, good character, and good will. These claims can be made positively or negatively, stated directly or suggested indirectly, made in broad generalizations or specific details. In political attacks, for example, this sentence is reversed, stated negatively in the charges: "My opponents are incompetent and untrustworthy; from them, you'll get more bad and less good."

Checklist: "Images and Issues"

"I am competent ... Competency is the result of being expert informed, reasonable, wise, healthy, active, experienced in the past, determined for the future. (In attacks, this is reversed:" They are incompetent.")

Claims

Charges

___informed, knowledgeable, aware

___ignorant, uninformed, unaware

___reasonable, coherent, rational

___unreasonable, incoherent, irrational

___wise, prudent, practical, adroit

___foolish, imprudent, impractical, clumsy

___healthy, fit

___unhealthy, unfit

___active, hardworking

___passive, lazy

___experienced, proven, prepared

___inexperienced, untried, unprepared

___strong, steady, determined, decisive

___weak, vacillating, indecisive

... and trustworthy ... Being sincere results from being trustworthy, honest, fair, courageous, temperate, dependable, and loyal. (In attacks, this is reversed: "They are untrustworthy.")

___honest, truthful, sincere	___dishonest, deceitful, untruthful
___just, fair, impartial	___unjust, unfair, biased
___courageous, brave, bold	___cowardly, afraid, fearful
___moderate, temperate, controlled	___intemperate, extreme, uncontrolled
___dependable, reliable, predictable	___undependable, unreliable, unpredictable
___loyal, faithful	___disloyal, unfaithful

[more, on p.2]

... from me, you'll get ... Being a benefactor: that is, benefit-promising, being "on your side." (In attacks, this is reversed: "They're not on your side.")

___friendly, concerned, interested	___unfriendly, unconcerned, uncaring
___kind, generous, sharing	___selfish, ambitious, opportunist
___"on our side," "one of us"	___working for others, favoritism

Persuasion is a two-way transaction: politicians are benefit-promisers; we are benefit-seekers.

... more "good" and less "bad" --- refers to the issues -- usually expressed in abstract generalizations, such as peace and prosperity (in domestic issues) or victory and justice (in foreign crisis), rather than in specifics. (In attacks, this is reversed: from them, you'll get -- more "bad" and less "good.")

CONSIDER THEIR LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION:	PROMISES	WARNINGS
Highest Level of Abstraction: the broadest generalizations	good	bad
Very High Level of Abstraction: qualities, or states of being	benefits advantages peace stability prosperity liberty justice equality success dominance victory	harms disadvantages war instability poverty slavery injustice inequality failure submission loss
More Specific, More Concrete: the causes or conditions of higher-level	more jobs higher wages better roads	less taxes less crime fewer unemployed
Very Specific: the specific plans, policies, programs	H.R. Bill #487 Proposition 8	H. R. Bill #1435 Jones Amendment

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