Stump speech

Last updated
Stump Speaking (1853-1854), George Caleb Bingham George Caleb Bingham - Stump Speaking.jpg
Stump Speaking (1853–1854), George Caleb Bingham

A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office. Typically a candidate who schedules many appearances prepares a short standardized stump speech that is repeated verbatim to each audience, before opening to questions. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The term derives from the early American custom in which candidates campaigned from town to town and stood upon a sawed off tree stump to deliver their speech. [2]

U.S. campaigns

In presidential campaigns in the United States, a candidate's speech at his or her party's presidential nominating convention usually forms the basis for the stump speech for the duration of the national campaign.

Stump speeches are not meant to generate news, outside of local media covering a candidate's appearance. National media usually ignore their contents in their daily news coverage. The predictability of stump speeches gives reporters a general indication that the candidate will soon conclude his speech. An example of this comes from New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who would constantly use the phrase "the brotherhood of man, under the fatherhood of God" toward the end of his speeches during his multiple bids for the Republican presidential nomination. Reporters covering Rockefeller came to abbreviate the expression as BOMFOG . [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election</span> 44th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee. This was the first election in which 50 states participated, marking the first participation of Alaska and Hawaii, and the last in which the District of Columbia did not. This made it the only presidential election where the threshold for victory was 269 electoral votes. It was also the first election in which an incumbent president –in this case, Dwight D. Eisenhower– was ineligible to run for a third term because of the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 United States presidential election</span> 45th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, in a landslide. Johnson was the fourth and most recent vice-president to ascend to the presidency following the death of his predecessor and to win a term in his own right. With 61.1% of the popular vote, Lyndon B. Johnson won the largest share of the popular vote for the Democratic Party in history, and the highest for any candidate since the advent of widespread popular elections in the 1820s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election</span> 46th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1968 United States presidential election was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. The Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon, defeated both the Democratic nominee, incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey, and the American Independent Party nominee, former Alabama governor George Wallace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockefeller Republican</span> Political ideology within the US Republican Party

The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to-liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of the United States (1974–1977). Rockefeller Republicans were most common in the Northeast and the industrial Midwestern states, with their larger moderate-to-liberal constituencies, while they were rare in the South and the West.

Favorite son is a political term.

In elections in the United States, political drafts are used to encourage or pressure a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate.

<i>Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72</i> Book by Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 is a 1973 book that recounts and analyzes the 1972 presidential campaign in which Richard Nixon was re-elected President of the United States. Written by Hunter S. Thompson and illustrated by Ralph Steadman, the book was largely derived from articles serialized in Rolling Stone throughout 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Town hall meeting</span> Reception where local and national politicians meet with their constituents

Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or regulation. During periods of active political debate, town halls can be a locus for protest and more active debate. The term originates mainly from North America, and is unfamiliar in British English where politicians instead hold surgeries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 Republican National Convention</span> Political convention of the Republican Party

The 1964 Republican National Convention took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Convention, which also took place in the Cow Palace. Many believed that a convention at San Francisco indicated the rising power of the Republican Party in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 Republican National Convention</span> Political convention of the Republican Party

The 1968 Republican National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida, USA, from August 5 to August 8, 1968, to select the party's nominee in the general election. It nominated former Vice President Richard M. Nixon for president and Maryland Governor Spiro T. Agnew for vice president. It was the fourth time Nixon had been nominated on the Republican ticket as either its vice presidential or presidential candidate (1960). Symbolic of the South's changing political affiliation, this was the first Republican National Convention held in a prior Confederate State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 Republican National Convention</span> Political convention of the Republican Party

The 1960 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 25 to July 28, 1960, at the International Amphitheatre. It was the 14th and most recent time overall that Chicago hosted the Republican National Convention, more times than any other city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign bus</span>

A campaign bus is a bus used as both a vehicle and a center of operations during a political campaign, whether for a specific candidate, a political party, or a political cause. A campaign bus can also transport members of the press covering a candidate's campaign. In the UK, they are shared by reporters, political commentators and a politician, usually a party leader, to give them all access to each other as they traverse the country making speeches and other engagements during a general election campaign. In theory, the mutual advantage is that journalists get close access to politicians, and politicians can convey their message more directly to those reporting them. The modern use of campaign buses is often calculated to bring to mind whistle stop train tours that political candidates had historically used to reach large numbers of voters while campaigning by train.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Romney 1968 presidential campaign</span>

George Romney ran for the 1968 Republican Party nomination in the 1968 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Republican Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of Republican US presidential candidate

From August 16 to August 19, 1976, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1976 United States presidential election. The major candidates were incumbent President Gerald Ford and former Governor of California Ronald Reagan. After a series of primary elections and caucuses, neither secured a majority of the delegates before the convention.

The 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater began when United States Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona elected to seek the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States to challenge incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson. Early on, before officially announcing his candidacy for the presidency, Goldwater was accused by Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller of attempting to galvanize Southern and Western Republican support while neglecting the industrial northern states, eventually becoming one of Goldwater's primary opponents in the race for the Republican Party's nomination in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 Republican Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of Republican US presidential candidate

From March 10 to June 2, 1964, voters of the Republican Party elected 1,308 delegates to the 1964 Republican National Convention through a series of delegate selection primaries and caucuses, for the purpose of determining the party's nominee for president in the 1964 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson Rockefeller</span> Vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. A member of the Republican Party and the wealthy Rockefeller family, he previously served as the 49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. Rockefeller also served as assistant secretary of State for American Republic Affairs for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (1944–1945) as well as under secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1954. A son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller as well as a grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Schriner</span> American perennial candidate, political activist, and journalist

Joseph Charles Schriner is an American political activist and journalist. Schriner has run for the United States presidency in six consecutive election cycles spanning from 2000 to 2020. Advocating Christian democratic policies, he has primarily run as an independent candidate, until the 2020 presidential election when he sought the American Solidarity Party nomination instead. Schriner's political views largely revolve around Catholic Social Teaching. He also ran as a Republican during the early portions of the 2000 and 2016 presidential election cycles. He also vied unsuccessfully for the Green Party presidential nomination during the 2008 election cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign</span>

The 1968 presidential campaign of Richard Nixon, the 36th vice president of the United States, began when Nixon, the Republican nominee of 1960, formally announced his candidacy, following a year's preparation and five years' political reorganization after defeats in the 1960 presidential election and the 1962 California gubernatorial election.

<i>A Choice Not an Echo</i> 1964 non-fiction book by Phyllis Schlafly

A Choice Not an Echo is a non-fiction book self-published in 1964 by movement conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. It was the first of Schlafly's 19 authored texts, and sold 3 million copies, granting her national attention as a conservative activist. Schlafly mainly published this book in support of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, hoping to help him triumph in the California primary, thus granting him the ability to be nominated for president. Schlafly's secondary motivation behind the publishing of A Choice Not an Echo was to break control of the "Eastern Establishment" over the Republican Party. In other words, this book served as an exposition of the covert influence that "kingmakers" had on Republican primary nominations.

References

  1. Scott L. Althaus, Peter F. Nardulli, and Daron R. Shaw. "Candidate appearances in presidential elections, 1972-2000." Political Communication 19.1 (2002): 49-72.
  2. "Political Dictionary". Taegon Goddard. 12 March 2023.
  3. "Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 41st Vice President (1974-1977)". United States Senate. Retrieved 2012-11-07.

An example is provided by the Washington Post on a 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama speech, complete with time line, segmentation and videos. Anatomy of a Stump Speech.