Oath Rhetoric, Political Identity, and the Case of Jon Huntsman

It is no great surprise among conservatives that Jon Huntsman was unable to crack double digits in any national poll during the 2011-2012 Republican primaries. Before he dropped out in January 2012, he was well known as the "moderate" in the race (Zeleny, par. 4). Some conservative bloggers went so far as to call him a "liberal" for his willingness to serve as ambassador under President Obama and his acknowledgment of the science behind climate change (e.g. Kaplan, par. 1; see also Condon). Indeed, Huntsman's name was on the short list for potential third-party candidates being considered by the independent group Americans Elect (e.g., Meyerson). How Huntsman came to be labeled so problematically is a complicated question. As any consideration of his record and policy positions will reveal, Huntsman was, in practice, a very serious and committed conservative. His record brimmed with Republican staples, including strict pro-life values and legislation, free-market-driven economics, and an air-tight alliance with the NRA (e.g., Scarborough). Why, therefore, was Huntsman treated as an apostate? Perhaps it was simply a matter of rhetorical style. Seth Mandel argues that Huntsman's transparent efforts to ingratiate himself with the "cool" crowd turned off conservatives (par. 6). Huntsman repeatedly tried to distance himself from the core constituencies within conservatism, often tweeting sardonic comments about how backwards his opponents were, or showing off his international experience during debates (e.g., Williamson qtd. in Mandel; "Huntsman Speaks"). However, it was Huntsman's refusal to sign pledges that suggests his most dramatic break with rhetorical orthodoxy. National elections from 2010 to 2012 saw a profusion of conservative pledges, all being circulated to Republican candidates as a way of binding them to certain ideological positions on a range of issues, including taxes, "gay marriage," and abortion. Every other viable candidate signed all or most of the pledges, but Jon Huntsman refused to sign any. Drawing on Huntsman as a case, and his refusal to sign one pledge in particular, the Pro-Life Leadership Presidential Pledge (hereafter the PLPP), this essay considers the uniquely powerful rhetoric of oaths to construct relationships of inclusion and exclusion such that the contingencies of policy making are displaced by the demands of ideological membership. I conclude that, rather than to address the material exigencies of policy, oath rhetoric functions to obscure individual identity, consolidate cultural allegiance, and redraw the boundaries of public debate. These functions suggest hegemonic impulses that go well beyond the isolated interests of certain policies. I should acknowledge up front that I do not argue Huntsman's refusal to sign pledges is solely or even primarily to blame for his poor showing. Though his refusal was certainly a key element in a failed rhetorical strategy, I am primarily interested in its heuristic value. The interchange between Huntsman and the Susan B. Anthony List, the organization that sponsored the PLPP, is illustrative of the way oath rhetoric creates intractable divisions in identity, even though such divisions are belied by evidence that the two parties share the same practical concerns. Off-the-cuff comments in a debate, interview, or tweet can be excused as gaffes or atonalities. When one declines an oath, or pledge, one permanently reinforces her or his own alienation from a particular group. The difference becomes not merely one of style; it becomes a difference of values, and, as I intend to show, ideological membership. The essay proceeds in three sections. First, I provide an overview of the definitions and premises of oaths, with particular focus on the use of oaths in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Second, I perform a textual analysis of a representative artifact (the PLPP), focusing primarily on the way it works to cut off debate and excommunicate those who would engage in debate. …