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American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 49, No. 3, 488-509 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764205279439

Election 2004 Concession and Victory Speeches

The Influence of Genre, Context, and Speaker on Addresses by Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates

Jennifer Willyard

Kurt Ritter

Texas A&M University

This analysis of the 2004 presidential election concession-victory ritual shows that generic norms had the greatest influence on the speeches, but presidential candidates John Kerry and George W. Bush occasionally violated generic expectations due to the context of their speeches and their personal inclinations. In particular, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards disrupted the dynamics of the closing ritual of the election with a speech strikingly incongruent with Kerry's concession speech. This study concludes that a full understanding of the quadrennial concession-victory ritual requires attention to context and speakers as well as to genre. Because of the reciprocal nature of the ritual of acknowledging defeat and declaring victory, scholars also need to examine statements by the losing and winning vice presidential candidates.

Key Words: political communication • presidential rhetoric • victory speeches • concession speeches • campaign genres


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