Populism and Myth in the Rhetoric of Elizabeth Warren

Abstract

This study sought to understand the strong resonance of Elizabeth Warren's rhetoric among Millenials and many liberal democrats. The three texts selected each received an inordinate amount of attention, particularly via social media and later by the popular press. As no rhetorical studies had been done about Warren, I drew from the remarkable body of literature concerning populist rhetoric and the paranoid style. Framework in place, the analysis of Warren's rhetoric revealed the presence of the major traits of populist rhetoric, but also made it clear that the core suasive power of her message came from a communitarian variant of the American Dream myth.