Keywords

Mitt Romney, election, speech, Mormonism

Abstract

Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith has been a topic of suspicion and debate among Christian conservatives. Romney addressed the issue in a 2007 address titled “Faith in America.” This article argues that Romney’s use of paralipsis helps to explain the divergent popular and academic responses to the speech. Paralipsis may be used as more than a mere stylistic device; it may also be employed as a comprehensive rhetorical strategy in an increasingly polarized political culture.

Original Publication Citation

Crosby, Richard Benjamin. “Mitt Romney’s Paralipsis: (Un)Veiling Jesus in ‘Faith in America’.” Rhetoric Review 32.2 (2013): 119 – 136 (Lead Article).