Mr. Rahall comes to Huntington

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., talked to Marshall University students Thursday about the importance of persuasion and rhetoric in political public speaking.

Rahall visited classical studies professor Eric Chrol's rhetoric of seduction class to inform students on public speaking techniques used when running for political office.

"Over the course of history, persuasion has been effective and very important," Rahall said. "It is especially important today with races as close as they are."

Rahall said some important factors in persuasion are brevity, word choice and repetition.

"You often have to repeat the same word or phrase over and over like an advertising campaign," Rahall said. "You want a lot of repetition to keep pounding in the common word or theme of your topic."

Rahall said time and money are also valuable in political persuasion.

"In the public light, we spend a lot of time and money persuading the electorate of how good we are and how bad the other man or woman is," Rahall said. "Unfortunately, in recent years, we have had to spend a majority of the time on negative campaigning."

Melissa Parsons, senior history major from Ona, W. Va., said Rahall is a patient congressman and gave great examples of rhetoric.

"He has neutral boundaries but can still make a political stance, which is so useful in the political arena," Parsons said.

Chrol said this is the second year Rahall has visited his class. Chrol wanted Rahall to talk about persuasion in terms of campaigning and how it has changed.

"He is very approachable, and I figured since it is a smaller district, he might be able to come," Chrol said.

Rahall is vice chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He said creating new jobs is his top priority in Washington.

Rahall referenced President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address and how the U.S. needs to compete against other nations.

"I would add to that and say instead of rebuilding other nations, we need to out-educate and out-innovate other nations," Rahall said.

Rahall said the best way to create jobs in the state is through transportation systems. He also said basic infrastructures, such as water and sewage systems, are vital to creating new jobs.

Rahall said West Virginia needs to diversify its economy through tourism by promoting white water rafting and the state's coal heritage.

   Kelley Bugler can be contacted at bugler@marshall.edu.