This essay advances the notion that democratic
deliberation at its best in the here and now is primarily rhetorical. A
"rowdy" rhetorical conception of deliberation, in the reconstructive
spirit of the mythical figure of Old Man Coyote, is well adapted to
meeting the present conditions of what Chantal Mouffe calls agonistic
pluralism. The democratic deficit created in the absence of such a
conception is illustrated with reference to the so-called "war" on
terrorism following the attack of September 11, 2001.
The mythos of the 2008 presidential campaign rhetoric is examined for the potential it reveals to transform political culture from within, specifically to articulate a synergic relationship between American exceptionalism and democracy that depolarizes political discourse and promotes interdependency in the form of collaborative and complementary relations. Barack Obama's campaign mantra of change was ritually resisted and reinforced by the symbolic act of John McCain's heroic last stand, which dramatized an attitudinal shift away from national chauvinism and toward a more democratic ethos. This shift was expressed by Obama in a prophetic discourse of restoration and renewal that would turn the myth of exceptionalism into a certification of democratic aspirations and democracy into a vehicle for pursuing the American dream.
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