Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the ideological appeals of the Tea Party’s disdain for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The artifact examined was Ted Cruz’s 21-hour anti-ObamaCare speech delivered on September 24, 2013, which was used as a case study and analyzed using ideological criticism. Ted Cruz built upon past metaphors of disease used by Truman and the right-wing to demonstrate the harmful effects of the Affordable Care Act. The Tea Party feared the changes brought on by the ACA to the United States healthcare system because it jeopardized American ideals and promoted socialism. Ted Cruz’s speech reenergized the tea Party, but creating further schisms within the Republican Party. His speech was one of the leading factors in the 2013 government shutdown.
Advisor
Bostdorff, Denise
Department
Communication Studies
Recommended Citation
Frietch, John Maxwell, "The Affordable Care Act as Cancer: An Ideological Analysis of Ted Cruz's 2013 Anti-ObamaCare Speech" (2015). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 6808.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/6808
Disciplines
American Politics | Critical and Cultural Studies | Health Policy | Social Influence and Political Communication
Keywords
Ted Cruz, Tea Party, Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, Ideological Criticism
Publication Date
2015
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2015 John Maxwell Frietch