Faculty Spotlight: Marylou R. Naumoff Explores Latinx Politics in Recent Publication

One of the fastest and largest growing minority groups in the United States is the Latinx population. The rise of this demographic is sure to shape and influence culture and politics. Both Democratic and Republican Parties should be concerned with how they are being perceived by and serving this portion of the populace, but Republicans in particular despite of, and maybe even more so, because of Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, dubbed the “Republican Obama,” unsuccessfully attempted to win the presidential nomination from the Republican Party in 2016. Even though he did not secure the nomination, his discourse warrants rhetorical analysis because of how he sought to change the face of the GOP. In a recently published essay “I Am Your Tomorrow: A Rhetorical Examination of Marco Rubio’s Presidential Bid as a Discourse of Capture,” SCM Professor in Communication Studies Marylou Naumoff explores how Marco Rubio employs a rhetoric of capture to seam together the Republican Party and “Hispanic Americans,” thereby rendering himself and other select “Hispanics” truly American. The essay was published in an edited book entitled “Gender, Race, and Social Identity in American Politics: The Past and Future of Political Access.”