September 4, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's vice presidential acceptance speech has come under fire from some critics who said the speech had a tone of sarcasm. Political communications expert Larry Powell, Ph.D., with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), says that while sarcasm works best in appealing to the party base, it is not as effective in reaching swing voters.

Larry Powell, Ph.D., is a professor in the UAB Department of Communication Studies. He is co-author of the book "Political Campaign Communication: Inside and Out."

"The Democrats started off their convention appealing to their base, but step by step they moved toward appealing to swing voters. Palin had a different task and that was to prove that she was up to the task of being a vice presidential nominee so she continued speaking to the base."

Powell says any form of humor can be risky in a political campaign. "People use it to show wit, but two things can occur. First, there is the potential for being misinterpreted or coming across too strong. If you are too sarcastic, it's not seen as being funny, but mean. Second, with some topics, if one uses humor to discuss them, one can be viewed as not taking the issue seriously."

The most effective form of humor is self deprecating humor, Powell said. Powell gives the example of former President Ronald Reagan's debate against Walter Mondale when he said, "I'm not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." "In that case," says Powell, "humor was used to diffuse the issue of Reagan's age and it worked perfectly. Self deprecating has the advantage of making you seem real and not taking yourself too seriously."

For interviews, contact Gail Short, UAB Office of Media Relations, 205-934-8931 or gshort@uab.edu.