Pritzker v. Rauner, Who Will Win?
An analysis of the arguments made by Pritzker (D) and Rauner (R) in the race for governor of Illinois.
This main issues in the Illinois race for governor are increased income tax on the middle class, increased gun violence and lackluster public education. In the past, Illinois has been very democratic; however, the current governor of Illinois, Bruce Rauner, is republican. Both candidates have different ways of tackling each issue; however, Pritzker is currently in the lead and tends to appeal to his audience more effectively than Rauner because of how he appeals to multiple audiences at once and uses political language and rhetorical claims.
One of the main issues in Illinois is the lack of government funding. Pritzker, the democratic candidate, plans to create a graduated income tax that taxes the rich more severely than the middle class. He believes this will satisfy the middle class and create money for the government to fund education. Rauner strongly disagrees with creating a graduated income tax and instead plans to implement a government budget plan.
In a recent debate, Pritzker stated: “We’re trying to fix a [graduated income tax] system that governor Rauner is defending, I believe [the fight to implement a graduated income tax] is about standing up for the working people of Illinois.” Rauner responds by stating Pritzker is going to drive big businesses out of Illinois. When addressing this issue, Pritzker appeals more effectively to his audience than Pritzker by the use of the inclusive “we”.
When addressing gun violence, Pritzker believes in educating people on gun safety so that people don’t have to resort to gun violence. Rauner states that law abiding citizens should be able to purchase a gun. In addition, Rauner recently passed a bill that cracks down on repeat offenders of gun violence. In this case, Rauner appeals to his audience more effectively than Pritzker by using the nation as a family model, as he states law-abiding citizens should have the right to own a gun but repeat offenders should get this right taken away. This is similar to the rules of a family as if you obey the rules you will get privileges; however, if you disobey them, you will not have privileges. Pritzker is not as successful in appealing to his audience, as he does not state a specific plan he will implement when elected governor.
Another issue is the lack of funding to K-12 and higher education. Both candidates want to fix this issue; however, they have slightly different methods of doing so. Pritzker accuses Rauner of taking money from higher education because of his two year budget crisis. In order to put money back into the government, Pritzker plans to fund higher education by legalizing and taxing marijuana as well as creating a graduated income tax. Pritzker manages to appeal to his audience more effectively by using the inclusive “we”: “We can reverse this trend if we prioritize and invest in workers, children, and families to give them the tools they need for success — like universal preschool and childcare, quality, equitable, public K-12 education.” By using the inclusive we, Pritzker develops a personal connection to the people of Illinois while Rauner simply states he will fix this issue by moving money around in the State’s government. Pritzker is also appealing to two audiences at the same time: people who support legalization of marijuana and middle class citizens who would benefit from a graduated income tax.
I believe Pritzker will go on to win governor of Illinois because he is much more convincing in his arguments by using persuasive language and rhetorical claims, has not made mistakes as a politician and appeals to the audience of the city-centers. My prediction was correct, as J.B. Pritzker beat governor Bruce Rauner by a sizeable margin (Pritzker: 54%, Rauner 39.3%)
