Talking Right and Left: The Language of American Politics

In recent decades, political debates have often come down to struggles for control of the language: leftist agenda and right-wing conspiracy, fair and balanced and media bias, choice and life, diversity and preferences, class warfare and corporate welfare, support the troops and quagmire. How does language shape and reinforce our political perceptions? Are linguistic divisions more marked in American political life than they used to be? Does one side have a dominant linguistic position? Two linguists well known for their writing about the language of public life assess the state of political language and ask where it is headed.