"WE ARE FAMILY" AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

     Real life on TV is often more dramatic than fictional enactments; political events have proven the point time and time again. Consider the national nominating conventions where visual images have become part of our media legacy. Remember when Bill and Hillary Clinton, along with Al  and Tipper Gore, broke into spontaneous dancing at the conclusion of Clinton's 1992 Acceptance Speech. As audience members, we were witnesses to  a movement of optimism and joy. At the 2000 Democractic Convention, Gore again provided a lasting visual image as he kissed his wife so passionately that even she seemed overwhelmed.

So were we.

Potent images of family continued in 2008: Joe Biden embracing his son, Beau, after being introduced as the Vice Presidential nominee. A silent, salient moment passed between them as they looked into each other's eyes: a defining moment between father and son that said more than any speech could. That picture remains in our memories, long after Beau had passed away from cancer some years later.

     This year's Convention has a similar connection to the idea of family, particularly the mother figure in the lives of Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris. While such bonds were emotional and deeply personal, there were no clear visual images that we could presently attach to the "idea" of mother. No need; it doesn't matter. Our "mother" is someone we can always associate with. Any time and any place.

     To put it another way, the word "mother" has imporant values of association: namely, it is used as a rhetorical device. Thus, other family members can function as rhetorical  techniques as well, especially in cases of  recent sgnificant officials. Consider President's Obama's past homage to his own mother ( humanizing him during his presidential campaigns ). Or Hillary Clinton's often stated, "I am a proud mother," showing she wasn't just a tough professional woman. Or Biden's constant references to his father evoking his working class roots.

     "We are Family" was especially powerful at this years Democratic National Convention. No wonder.

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