Writing Oneself, Writing the Presidential Campaign

Abstract

In this paper I analyze user posts and comments on the two blogs that Hillary Clinton runs from her website. Based on the rhetorical approaches utilized by writers of posts and comments, I categorize the posts into four types: cheerleading, educating, suggesting, and sharing. I also examine how difference—both among the users and between users and the candidate—are negotiated in the user-generated blogs. In doing so, I hope to construct an awareness of how people are using blogs to participate in the discourse of a political campaign.