Persuasion and the Polls:
The Rhetorical Work of Objects and Bodies in the Philippine Elections

Philippine elections are rife with rhetorical discourses and performances. Here, political candidates occupy physical and digital stages to assume the role of a public speaker and deliver speeches before their audiences across the nation. These verbal acts contain the ideas and visions of candidates. They reflect, if not establish, their capacities and characteristics. Furthermore, they function as mechanisms for politicians to connect to their constituencies; stimulate the interest of their supporters and followers; and receive coverage from the mass media.

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Though speeches are the primary mode through which politicians and their campaign teams communicate with others on the ground, they are certainly not the only one. There are, indeed, limitations in focusing exclusively on speeches in understanding how political candidacies come about and play out in the world. A text-centric imagination tends to overlook the nature of electoral campaigns as highly embodied activities that require more than scripts and speeches.