327 Karrin Vasby Anderson is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. he author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers for Rhetoric & Public Afairs and the following members of the Colorado State University Department of Communication Studies writing group for their helpful feedback on this essay: Eric Aoki, Martín Carcasson, Greg Dickinson, Scott Difrient, Jon Lupo, Chani Marchiselli, Brian Ott, and Linda Scholz. hanks, also, to Gi for encouraging me to go for it! © 2011 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. All rights reserved. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Vol. 14, No. 2, 2011, pp. 327–368. ISSN 1094-8392. “Rhymes with Blunt”: Pornification and U.S. Political Culture Karrin Vasby Anderson In this essay, I contend that political culture and campaign journalism during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign was “porniied.” Examination of broadcast journalism, viral videos, online commentary, political pop culture, and get-out- the-vote campaigns reveals the ways in which pornographic metaphors, images, and narratives iniltrated U.S. political culture during the 2008 presidential primary and general election season. I assess the media framing of candidates Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, as well as that of female voters as a group, arguing that the emergence of the porniication frame signals a backlash against the gains women have made in the U.S. political system. I n the irst picture, an attractive young woman is naked and bound in heavy, black tape. Her arms are pinned behind her by the tape, which also encases her mouth. Her eyes, looking of into the distance, well with tears as her heavy black eyeliner and mascara run. One eye is darkened—either by a shadow cast across her face . . . or by a beating. he second picture features another bare-shouldered young woman. Her blond boufant, porcelain skin, and red lipstick are reminiscent of ideal feminine beauty, circa 1950. A single tear cascades down her face as her blue eyes stare blankly into the distance. This work originally appeared in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 14:2, Summer 2011, published by Michigan State University Press.