Voting for eloquence

By Trygve D. Johnson

In an old episode of The West Wing, President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) comes back from church and confesses his frustration about with the homily and preacher:

He had a captive audience. The way I know that is that I tried to tunnel out of there several times. He had an audience and he didn’t know what to do with it. . . . Words, when spoken out loud for the sake of performance, are music. They have rhythm, and pitch, and timbre, and volume. These are the properties of music. And music has the ability to find us and move us and lift us up in ways that literal meaning can’t.

Bartlet identifies a fundamental truth, not only for preachers, but also for politicians. Words are powerful. It’s not accidental that in Hebrew dabar, or “word,” also means to act. Words have the potential to do something.

Words get inside of us like music. Words drive us to our knees and bring us to a standing ovation. Words spoken at the right moment raise us above our mortal bodies and make us more than we ever dreamed we could be. Words create an energy between us that gives light in dark times and, if used carelessly, shocks.

For this reason, I am voting for the presidential candidate who is the best orator. I am looking for a candidate who can deliver a State of the Union or an Inaugural Address that does not just foreshadow a legislative platform, but presents a public language worthy of fine, carved granite.

Classically, public speaking and oral debate has been a cornerstone of society; the ability to persuade is the gold standard of a statesperson. For centuries training in rhetoric was a prerequisite in the curriculum of a political leader. Regrettably, since this is no longer the case, the language of our public leaders has been reduced.

The gift of eloquence cannot be dialed up or downloaded, but requires full presence, gravitas, character and the tacit knowledge of what to do with a captive audience. Eloquence is not taught but caught in the experience of living. As the election draws near, I’ll be listening for that rare use of language that ignites anticipation, energy and hope. I’ll be voting for the tongue that, with a controlled passion for the beautiful idea of America, can persuade the public that we can be better at the end of life than when we started. The candidate who can articulate this idea with beauty, clarity and grace will offer us the antidote to a disengagement from political life, and counter a cynicism made up of coached sound bites.

Trygve D. Johnson is the chaplain of Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Comments

[Aaron G]

If Bartlet says it, I believe it.

[Jason Byassee]

Trygve I remember an old cartoon with a guy on a couch chanting "Keep hope alive!" with Jesse Jackson, before his wife came in and said, "But honey, we're Republicans!"

[Casey Taylor]

I notice that no specific potential orator-in-chief is named! Oratory as a votable issue sounds rather trite, but I suppose we could make a (very) old appeal to Aristotle about the three legs of rhetoric: pathos, logos, and ethos. In the case of presidential candidates, I'd wager many of us wonder if they have much ethos, no matter how well their pathos and logos may be. I wonder - can a public speaker be a truly good public speaker with good character?

[Casey Taylor]

WHOOPS! That last line should read: "I wonder - can a public speaker be a truly good public speaker WITHOUT good character?"

[Trygve Johnson]

Ha! True. But I need to hear a golden tongue. If you haven't checked out the "Yes we can" video going around that puts my thesis to music - check it out. It captures what I'm arguing for.

[Jason Byassee]

That'd be this one I suppose, right Trygve?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

[Bromleigh]

Eugene Bardach, who teaches (taught?)in the public policy program at UC Berkeley, says that the key to good policy making is the integration of four factors: efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and political feasibility. Does this policy affect people fairly? Is it just? The best use of resources? Will it get the job done? And, finally, can we get it passed? A leader who can persuade, who can inspire, who can make a case -- and who is willing to make a case, without assuming that their authority is a given: that's the practical importance of great rhetoric. Without it, the best policy proposals gather dust in the think tank and university basements.

In the pulpit or the church conference room, I think a similar rule applies: you can preach a host of difficult truths if you're eloquent.

Of course, we still have a president who threw quite the wrench in that argument, at least for awhile, but here's to continued prayer that such a strategy leads ultimately to unpopularity.

Thanks for this post -- very thought provoking.