Closing arguments on the campaign trail

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Closing arguments on the campaign trail

By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press Writer


CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- On the campaign trail, the presidential contenders know that closing arguments count - the final words of their stump speeches that audiences take home with them.

Democrat Barack Obama often ends with a rousing call to action. John Edwards makes a quieter pledge to meet "the moral test of our generation." Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson turn to history to say what kind of presidents they'd like to be.

Republican John McCain punctuates his stump speech with a somber story about a soldier's death, while Mitt Romney ends with an ode to optimism. Less prone to rhetorical flourishes, Rudy Giuliani sticks to a boiled-down take-it-or-leave-it message.

All can be effective, experts say.

Candidates often save their most emotional material for the end, after they've established their credibility and followed up with the nuts and bolts of their plans, said John Adams, a professor of communications at Hamilton College in New York.

"Usually, speakers will pick up the pace toward the end - it's like NASCAR rhetoric," he says.

Stories that use vivid characters to explain a moral are particularly effective, said Adams, who believes audience members also like candidates who show they can learn from their experiences. Obama's rallying cry is an example.

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