BlueSky Thinking Summary

William Brady identifies the uniqueness of presidential candidates, citing Joe Biden, Jeb Bush, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump.

Above and beyond policy disagreement is what William Brady means by moral language, which defines their campaigns.

Brady and his coauthors, analyzing tweets from the 2016 and 2020 elections, find that Democrats talk about care and fairness, while Republicans speak about loyalty and respect for hierarchy.

This linguistic divergence, in particular, mirrors the deeper ideological divides that are at work in shaping perceptions and polarization.

It uses moral foundations theory to quantify candidates' rhetoric, first, by showing temporally relatively stable Democratic appeals as opposed to Trump's unique language disrupting Republican norms.

Network analysis further illustrates how candidates align morally within parties and diverge across them.

Brady posits that adjusting moral rhetoric could reduce polarization and bridge these partisan gaps.

As political rhetoric comes more and more to reflect moral values, the understanding of those rhetorical strategies for the navigation of America's deepening political divisions—and perhaps effecting reconciliation—has become imperative.