Expert Available: What Does Political Rhetoric Owe Democracy?

Voters are heading to the polls today to make their voices heard across local, state and national political races in arguably one of the most consequential elections in recent U.S. history. This election season has been nothing short of historic, between both Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaigns.

As one expert at the George Washington University reflects on the 2024 campaign season and the uncertainty that lays ahead, he explores the question: what does political rhetoric owe democracy?

Peter Loge is the director of the GW School of Media and Public Affairs. Loge has nearly 30 years of experience in politics and communications, including a presidential appointment at the Food and Drug Administration and senior positions for Sen. Edward Kennedy and three members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He currently leads the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at the GW School of Media and Public Affairs and continues to advise advocates and organizations. Loge is an expert in communications and political strategy.

He spoke at Shepherd University last week about the state of political rhetoric, emphasizing the point that democracy is only as strong as how we talk about it.

Loge said, “It is up to us, through our rhetoric which is to say through our politics and our democracy, to make and remake our democracy every day. Political rhetoric owes democracy everything, because our democracy is our political rhetoric. It is up to us to live up to it.”

You’ll find more of his remarks here.

If you would like to speak with Peter Loge, please contact GW Media Relations Senior Specialist Cate Douglass Restuccio at [email protected].

-GW-