| Drawing from Kenneth Burke's "Dialectic of Constitutions," this thesis examines the ideological tensions present in John McCain's 2008 campaign discourse. Specifically, it concentrates on highlighting where McCain's ideals and commitments fell into conflict, and the techniques by which McCain strived to reconcile those differences. Focusing on three addresses delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, in Prescott, Arizona, and at the Republican National Convention, it scrutinizes the overtures McCain made to various conservative ideological camps. It then analyzes how McCain's efforts to substantiate his motives were variously reconstituted by members of those camps. It concludes by assessing competing strategies in McCain's discourse, including the "Country First" and "maverick" narratives and two different approaches to bipartisanship. |
