My Notes

These are just interesting videos and such that I was looking at for my presidential rhetoric paper.
It's really just my notes... Haha.

http://www.mittromney.com/videos

http://youtu.be/YkvN7GCcTVk

 http://youtu.be/erT_1axOAHo

http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view/2012/08/mitt-romneys-plan-stronger-middle-class01

At first glance, I'm noticing a huge pattern of families and how Obama has been attacking the average American family. There is a strong enthymeme that Obama just doesn't care about the family and that he is attacking the values of the American family by taking away jobs. These videos show a lot of children. This immediately adds emotion to these videos and adds a pathetic element. Romney is saying that I care about these kids! Obama does not. He does not care about the working man and his family! It has the enthymeme that if you vote for Obama, he will not take care of these families, but Romney will.

I thought that it was particularly interesting that in the first video, they have Obama repeat his piece on how people can open a coal power plant, but it will bankrupt them. They have that in there twice. This clip makes Obama sound as if he is threatening the coal industry in a major way. The video also prefaces the clip for the first time, saying that Obama is attacking the coal workers instead of the actual coal companies. This is very careful word choice on the part of the Romney campaign. It creates this enthymeme that Obama does not care for the individual coal worker and that he is attacking the coal worker specifically. However, Romney knows, Romney understands, and Romney cares. In the video, each shot of a coal mine includes an American flag. This seems to say that coal mining is America. It has powered America for 250 years, and it will continue to power America. Romney cares about families, and he cares about America. Obama doesn't and, therefore, we should vote for Romney.


http://www.barackobama.com/video?source=primary-nav

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1pdgHQcWQvc

The first one, I think, is kind of the core of Obama's reelection strategy. I have done this for America so far, but I'm not done! Let me continue! It has the enthymeme that if Romney wins, he will take away everything that Obama has done. We've come too far to allow this to happen! Obama is a step forward while Romney is a step back. It's almost a continuation of his original campaign; he was all about change, and now he's made the change, but he needs more time!

His speech to Virginia was all about "I am one of you!" He opens with a humorous line "If you didn't pay your cable bill." He seems to be saying, "I've been there! I know how it is! I am connected enough to the world in order to make that reference!" I also immediately noticed the way he's dressed. Usually presidents and presidential candidates are dressed sharply in an expensive suit. Here, however, Obama looks professional, but casual, with no jacket and his sleeves rolled up. He is more approachable this way. Honestly, it reminds me of when I was younger and my dad would come straight from work to the dinner table when he had unbuttoned his shirt a bit and was just winding down from the long work day, and I'm sure it reminds a lot of people of that. This goes along with his "I am one of you" angle. He may be the president, but really he's just  a working man with a family, same as you. It kind of reminds me of the fireside chats that FDR used to host. He had the same idea; I'm just a regular American looking to have a chat with my fellow Americans about the state of our country and where we are headed.

This kind of begs the question, is the presidential image changing? What is now presidential? Until now, the president has always been this being who is kind of above everyone, looking sharp in a suit, surrounded by security, untouchable. But this election both Romney and Obama seem to be trying to be more approachable. They are dressing more casually, more hands-on with the voters, and getting to know "regular people" rather than rubbing elbows with the higher-ups. I just think the shift is interesting.

In this Virginia speech, in particular, Obama's speech style is much more informal. He's cracking jokes, using references the middle class understands, such as the cable bill thing, and seems to be chatting it up with thousands of his closest friends. He has very deliberate word choice, using terms like "we" and "you." He said that the health care plan was all thanks to "you" directing it at his audience. He is very careful not to say "I." He is saying that the American public made everything that he did possible, and that together, we can work together to move forward. It makes him humbled, which makes him even more approachable, and acknowledges that America is for the people by the people. This is what America has always been about and what Americans want to hear and seems to say that Obama is an American president who works for the people. Vote for Obama because he works for you, because he is you.

I also got a kick out of his blatant jab at Romney's whole 47% thing. "We do not expect the government to work for us!" His use of "we" here also seems to say that Romney didn't just insult Obama voters, but Obama himself.