Editors Note: They traveled 1,230 miles to come to Washington, D.C. — Christine Amdam flew all the way from Norway and Alina Braun from Germany. This fall, they are studying journalism at American University and working as interns for WTOP. They quickly discovered that Washington and the American culture are very different from their hometowns Oslo and Mannheim and decided to document their experiences. Check WTOP.com each weekend to read about Christine and Alina’s “culture clashes.”
Emotions in political debates
Alina Braun, special to wtop.com
At the beginning of the first presidential debate, President Barack Obama told viewers that it was his anniversary. I thought that was sweet, but at the same time I thought “What does that have to do with politics? I want to hear facts and ideas about the development of America.” In the last few weeks I came to understand that this is the way politics work in the USA. Emotions play a big role – especially during debates.
People seem to vote for the candidate they feel most comfortable with, and, therefore, it is important for the candidates to share emotions and seem authentic, sympathetic and friendly. Gov. Mitt Romney, for example, talks a lot about specific families that he has met and shares their names and their personal stories in front of thousands of viewers. He seems to want to be approachable, like the nice neighbor next door who would always help you.
In Germany, candidates talk about the general situation many families face and do not pick out one particular family because this evokes a lot of emotion, which is not supposed to have a place in German politics.
As a German, all this emotional talk in politics is hard to understand. Politicians in Germany simply don’t mention their families, personal stories or feelings in official situations. They talk about plans and facts, which makes debates very organized and factual.
In contrast to the U.S., German debates between candidates have started only recently. Since 1969, chancellor candidates repeatedly challenged their competitors to debates without any success. The competitors turned down the proposals, and TV channels refused to air the proposed event. The first two chancellor debates finally happened in 2002 between candidates Gerhard Schr
