In the current economic meltdown and public displeasure with the government's bailout plan, both campaigns have resorted to an even sharper tone toward what they perceive as irresponsibility and corruption in the economic sector.

This feature therefore analyzes how John McCain and Barack Obama used two keywords and metaphors in the debate about the current economic situation: Wall Street and Main Street.

When looking at the collocations of these two words in both of the candidates' rhetoric, the following significant differences emerge:


1. Wall Street

When talking about Wall Street, John McCain, in comparison with Barack Obama, puts forward a very clear message: Wall Street is plagued by greed and corruption which puts both the economy and the country at risk. The task at hand is therefore to protect the people from the economic disadvantages and bring fundamental reform to a do-nothing, me-first Washington.

Barack Obama's collocations of Wall Street, on the other hand, show an immediate connection to Main Street (struggle, folk). His rhetoric is immediately concerned with help for families and is less technical than that of John McCain in describing the social impact of the economic crisis. Furthermore, Obama's collocations do not feature the word reform, but suggest an end to what he perceives as failures of the current administration's policies, especially in the area of taxes and the war in Iraq.

It is equally striking that Obama connects the economic crisis to a host of other issues (housing, health care, energy). In contrast to McCain's negative focus on the term Washington (spending, do-nothing, me-first, pork barrel). Obama als speaks about Washington using more positive collocation in connection with Wall Street, thereby stressing the change an Obama administration would bring to government instead of focussing on the current shortcomings (see also his second-level collocations for good and bad in this context).

2. Main Street

When talking about Main Street, John McCain largely repeats his attacks on Wall Street and Washington, while connecting his campaign slogan of "country first" to the people, but remaining vague about the range of consequences they are facing as a result of the economic slowdown and their concrete plights in terms of health care, education costs.

Barack Obama, by contrast, emphasizes the struggle of folks. As the cluster below illustrates, his rhetorical strategy is to show the full impact and contradictions of the current economic situations for the middle class: despite the fact that people work, they hurt. Prosperity does not trickle down to everyone in society, which ressults in a growing division (divide) among people and in politics.

3. Conclusion

As has already become apparent in previous examinations of both candidates' rhetoric (see analysis #12), John McCain presents his message with regard to the economy in very clear-cut term and tries to connect to people by linking their woes to his overall messages of "country first," reform, and denounciation of "Washington politics."

While Barack Obama also stays true to his message of "change," his rhetoric paints, however, a far more comprehensive picture of the diverse, negative impact the current economic crisis has on the middle class. His focus on concrete examples as well as his greater usage of collocations with positive and constructive connotations allow him to portray himself to be more in touch with the American people than John McCain.