Rick Santorum, the passionate conservative, just gave a heartfelt speech at the Republican Convention. Heartfelt—and very bad. It was bad because of its central metaphorical conceit—hands. Santorum informed America that he had “shaken the hand of the American dream,” and then went on to talk about shaking the hands of farmers and the hands of this guy and that woman and so on. Rhetorical conceits work when they are unnoticed, when they are introduced almost (forgive me) off-handedly and then begin to broaden and deepen as the speech itself does. The problem is that you can’t shake the hand of a dream—a dream is something abstract, hands are real, the metaphor simply doesn’t work, and you notice it the way you notice a hangnail. Then, every time it comes back, you’re reminded of the original bizarrerie and you feel uncomfortable and confused. Santorum pulled himself out of the ditch by bringing up the condition of his disabled daughter Bella, an undeniably touching story, and then tying that to his pro-life message. But before that, Santorum gave the world a master class in how not to give a convention speech.
May 2013
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Onto a Good Thing
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The Making of an Education Reformer
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Bork's Watergate
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The Parenting Trap
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George Saunders, Anti-Minimalist
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A Chekhov in Training
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What Ailes the Liberal Media?
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Taking Obama's Foreign Policy Seriously
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Threat Assessment
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More Genocide Threats from Iran
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Letters
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Denying Jewish Peoplehood-and Reality
Our ReadersResponses to Robert S. Wistrich's "The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism"
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Don't Confuse Principle and Pose
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Jews and Sports
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I disagree. I don't go as far as Paul Mirengoff and say it was great, but I thought it was good. Yes the hand metaphor did feel a bit clunky at times but I saw it as a problem of delivery more than structure. I did think it was a bit odd that the speech was more about him than Romney but overall, to me it came across well.
I disagree. I thought he did a nice job. And remember: It’s easy to criticize when it’s not you up there having to speak. Cut him some slack.
I watched the same speech you did and didn't walk away thinking it was disastrous. You sound incredible harsh toward a man who gave a decent speech.
The only thing I can disagree with is your description of Santorum as a "conservative". He's a pro-life incarnation of Huey P Long.
I want like Santorum because I am a social conservative. However something in his delivery puts me off. Perhaps it was his bitterness in loosing. He does wear his heart on his sleeve. It is creepy how pols use their family disaster to enhance their narrative.