‘Al Gore’s our Guy’: Linguistically Constructing a Family Political Identity

Abstract

This article considers how one family, consisting of a mother, father, and son (aged 4 years 10 months), uses language to collaboratively create (and socialize one another into) one aspect of their shared family identity—as Democrats and supporters of Al Gore—through conversations they tape recorded during the week of the 2000 presidential election. I identify four ways in which this family constructs their political identity. Interlocutors (i) use referring terms for the candidates that create closeness to Gore and distance from Bush, (ii) repeatedly discuss Bush’s 1976 drunk-driving arrest, (iii) negatively assess Bush and those associated with him, and (iv) refer to family members as Democrats. Members of this family create alignments vis-àvis the political candidates and each other through their use of referring terms, repetition, laughter, storytelling, and constructed dialogue. This study illustrates how linguistic strategies create a group identity, how political socialization is multidirectional in the family context, and how all family members play a role in constructing the family identity.