Abstract:
The paper examines the role of discursive strategies in political debates reflected by
the selection of the grammatical person in correlation with the choice and functioning of
the markers of modality. The analysis is focused on the way in which T. Băsescu and A.
Năstase used personal pronouns, especially the first person singular and plural, in their
attempt to persuade their audience during the 2004 Romanian Presidential Debate. The
main purpose of this analysis is to identify the reason why candidates make appeal to such
linguistic markers and what are their effects on the relevance of political message.