Stump speech (politics)

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Stump Speaking (1853-54), George Caleb Bingham George Caleb Bingham - Stump Speaking.jpg
Stump Speaking (1853–54), 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]

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Origin of the term

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]

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Nelson Rockefeller 41st Vice President of the United States

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, and previously as the 49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. He 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 under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1954. A member of the wealthy Rockefeller family, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York.

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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.
  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. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/02/26/GR2008022600417.html.