Obama has done a good job, in my opinion, with appealing to the younger voters. He uses a great deal of pathos and a clear logos when addressing the younger demographic. Romney doesn’t make a strong attempt to reach out to the young voters as Obama. Obamas use of social media is a great way for him to reach that young demographic, to seem like an everyday man, a man that is cool, does and uses the same things younger voters do. Of course his aim is both political and whole hearted, at least thats how it comes off.
He has made great use of certain appearances he makes to address the younger demographic. Appearing on late night talk shows who’s main viewers are college students. Appearing at basketball games and talking with the players to seem like the casual sports fan, an everyday man that voters can relate to. Obama seems to emulate friendliness and funny, the president who can take his job seriously and also poke fun at himself. I’ve looked and picked apart a certain areas of Obamas attempt to relate and understand the younger voters.
Obama uses a great deal of ethos with his appearance on Jimmy Fallons talk show. By just coming on the show and participate in a goofy skit utilizes litotes, downplaying ones accomplishments, to seem humble but he also makes sure to address the crowd as President Barack Obama so they have, this is the president speaking to us, fresh in their mind Fallons core demographic of adults is 18 - 34, with college students making up the majority of people who go to his tapings, Obama picked the right topic to address the crowd. Seeming like the kind of president who can have fun and still get to business appeals to the young voter. Appearing on a late night talk show also emulates a sense of humbleness since its a talk show and not directly a news outlet. He makes the crowd feel as though he came to speak to just them tonight. Choosing this specific night was a a great decision on Obamas part since Jimmy Fallon taped his show off site at The University of North Carolina. He addressed an audience of 1,434 as opposed to the much smaller amount back at studio 6B where Fallon usually tapes his show. Obama had a better chance to directly speak with a lot of college students, his topic of course was the rising costs of college tuition. At the end of his bit Obama dropped the mic to excite the audience and again seem cool, always doing his best to seem like the cool president. By addressing the audience as part of his plan to keep college affordable Obama utilizes communicatio, to include one's audience overtly in a discourse. He adresses the rise of loans and uses “you” to connect the problem he wants to solve directly with the audience, which is filled with college students, referring back to the problem as something he will take care of by saying “I have called on congress” to reaffirm the sepertion between the audiences needs and what he is doing to address them. This is also another way of Obama saying his side is against raising costs of college tuition while the other side is for it.
Another way Obama makes himself seem like an everyday guy is with his love for basketball. I can’t think of any president who has used his interest in sports to his advantage as much as Obama. He does his best to appear at games, meet with players, and appearing on ESPN to fill out his NCAA mens and woman's basketball tournament bracket. Again he picks the right spots to get votes. He is able to seem like a casual basketball fan while still maintaining his presidential status. He is able to go in and out of using specific language depending on who he is addressing. Obama uses aschematiston, the use of plain, unadorned or un-ornamented language and soraismus, to mingle different languages affectedly, to appeal to specific groups. When visiting with the United States mens basketball team his use of language switches from serious political language to simple and slang language. Obama speaks this way with regards to talking basketball knowledge, that basketball is something he enjoys. When addressing the rookie of the team he says “what are ya’ll doing with this rookie man, is he carrying the bgs and stuff” his language is relaxed and simple, relating to the members of the team, coming off as friendly. But it also shows how he understands the traditions of rookie basketball players joining a new team so he comes off as someone who truly enjoys the game and its history.
Then when he addresses the team as a whole, including the coaching staff, in terms of what they mean to the United States, Obama goes right back into his formal use of language, again showing he is the president and knows when to be serious. The whole time he switches back and forth between the uses of language it seems genuine which is what voters want to see. Hanging out with the basketball players and getting to know them helps Obama reach other outlets. Of course it helps along his aim at getting the black vote and the young vote but it also persuades others to be relaxed towards him, to relate with him, to see their president associating himself passionately with a sport that everyday people do.
Obama knows that young voters are tech savvy, that they enjoy using web based tools to get their news. By using the same outlets the young voters are used to Obama again seems cool and actually willing to try and communicate with them with something they’re familiar with. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit all convey a sense of close connection between Obama and those following him on these social networks. Reddit in particular is used to connect with voters closely. Again Obama seems like a cool, friendly, and relatable president. Reddits main users age from 25 - 34 and are either in college or have had a college education. So using Reddit as an outlet gives him another unique opportunity to communicate with college students in an environment that is both personal and familiar with current social networking. He is able to relate with the young voter by using the website but can convey the sense of leadership wanted in a president by answering the questions in a serious tone.
Here is a link to the Reddit site where Obama answered various questions
There’s one particular question that Obama answered that want to show here and pick apart.
Q - I am recent law school graduate. Despite graduating from a top school, I find myself unemployed with a large student loan debt burden. While I'm sure my immediate prospects will improve in time, it's difficult to be optimistic about the future knowing that my ability to live a productive life -- to have a fulfilling career, to buy a house, to someday raise a family -- is hampered by my debt and the bleak economic outlook for young people. I know that I'm not alone in feeling this way. Many of us are demoralized. Your 2008 campaign was successful in large part due to the efforts of younger demographics. We worked for you, we campaigned for you, and we turned out in record numbers to vote for you. What can I say to encourage those in similar situations as I am to show up again in November? What hope can you offer us for your second term?
A - I understand how tough it is out there for recent grads. You're right - your long term prospects are great, but that doesn't help in the short term. Obviously some of the steps we have taken already help young people at the start of their careers. Because of the health care bill, you can stay on your parent's plan until you're twenty six. Because of our student loan bill, we are lowering the debt burdens that young people have to carry. But the key for your future, and all our futures, is an economy that is growing and creating solid middle class jobs - and that's why the choice in this election is so important. The other party has two ideas for growth - more taxs cuts for the wealthy (paid for by raising tax burdens on the middle class and gutting investments like education) and getting rid of regulations we've put in place to control the excesses on wall street and help consumers. These ideas have been tried, they didnt work, and will make the economy worse. I want to keep promoting advanced manufacturing that will bring jobs back to America, promote all-American energy sources (including wind and solar), keep investing in education and make college more affordable, rebuild our infrastructure, invest in science, and reduce our deficit in a balanced way with prudent spending cuts and higher taxes on folks making more than $250,000/year. I don't promise that this will solve all our immediate economic challenges, but my plans will lay the foundation for long term growth for your generation, and for generations to follow. So don't be discouraged - we didn't get into this fix overnight, and we won't get out overnight, but we are making progress and with your help will make more.
Obama nicely speaks to the person asking the question directly using the word “you’re.”
Obama addresses how he has helped lower costs and help out students with the repition of “because” to reaffirm that he has put bills forward to help. He also utilizes a sort of accumulatio, bringing together various points made throughout a speech and presenting them again in a forceful, climactic way, by stating the different points of problems the United States he wishes to solve. He gives himself some wiggle room as well by stating “we didn't get into this fix overnight, and we won't get out overnight, but we are making progress and with your help will make more.” Making sure to put everyone on notice that he is working on solving the issues but it will take time, by not putting any timetable at all by saying “we are making progress” Obama backs himself up by not committing to a specific time he will accomplish these goals.
Obama also reminds the readers what the other party has planned that are working directly against what he is trying to do to help. He refers to them exactly as “the other party” to put them all in one category, not any specific person, to show how serious the other party is in working against him so he can’t help out those who need it. It puts weight on the other party to address them all being against him.
I feel that Obama has gone through some great lengths in appealing to young voters. He makes it a point to use any means available to him to reach out to them and relate with them. He emulates that friendliness and cool that any voter would like but young voters especially. Acting funny draws in young voters since he is relaxed but he appeals to older voters as well because even though he is having a good time he addresses the problems of the U.S with a serious tone. On Fallon specifically Obama was part of a funny bit but his part was speaking about a serious topic with serious language while Fallon brought the funny. I admire Obamas attempt to get his ideas and communicate with young voters. His strategy in accomplishing this shows him having a good time when speaking about the issues but never seems like he takes it lightly.
JP - First of all, I enjoyed your analysis. It was definitely young and fresh. You definitely hit YOUR target audience with the subject matter. Weaving in social media with Fallon and YouTube is a great way to capture the attention of "this" generation. I also liked the introduction of terms like "accumulation" and "litotes." I felt like I got something out of this. It contributed to my understanding of some of the terminology within the area of rhetoric. So thanks! I also liked that you took the time to define each of them and, in the case of soraismus, even provided a link to the byu website. I think you should have done that for all of them. It contributes to the feel of connectivity and interactivity in your text.
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job of weaving your sources into your material. It did a good job of breaking up the analysis and it let you focus in on each piece individually. Again, I think it addressed your audience well.
What I got most out of your piece was a sense that Obama does quite a bit to reach out to younger voters. The rhetorical devices he uses seem to zero in on that goal. If you wanted to take that further, maybe you would address why exactly seeming humble (lototes) and inclusive (communicatio) seems to connect with young people. What exactly within those concepts gives him the ability to establish rapport with college-aged people? There is definitely enthymeme in your piece and I get it, but perhaps in an analysis you should draw it out a bit and get at the essence of what the rhetoric DOES. Why is it important to use these specific rhetorical devices?
I liked that you pointed out older voters as well in the end. I wonder what they think of Obama when he "switches his language." If this were a longer piece I'd like to know the flip side of the argument. What happens when a 70 year old white dude sees Obama get loose with his language? Does this have a negative impact or does it appeal to them as well?
I also liked how you took the time to do a little digging on the Fallon taping. I would not have known that the show was at UNC. It definitely says a lot about his intentions. NC is a huge battleground state and is important to Obama because he won it last election. It definitely fits with your theme of capturing the youth vote.
Last thing, JP, there were definitely some grammatical and punctuation errors going on in your piece. It was a little distracting. Take a look at this: "this is the president speaking to us, fresh in their mind Fallons core demographic of adults is 18 - 34" - I believe you want a period after mind. But it's kind of an awkward end to the sentence. So I'm not sure exactly what you meant here. Just a technicality, but I think it's important. I try to get someone else to read my work before I submit a final draft because I ALWAYS miss something. I also try to read my work out loud and say to myself "does this make sense? Do I need a comma or a period here," etc.
Thanks for the entertaining subject JP. Nice work!
-Matt
I know we have talked about this a lot between classes and such, but I agree so much with your ideas. I see where Obama and Romney know their target audience. Obama focuses on the ‘real people’ while Romney ignores them and focuses on the high rollers. Which is fine for Romney to do, but realistically he is missing the vast majority in doing so. It would be interesting to see if Obama’s crew made certain that the only people in the audience a Fallon’s show were college kids. After all, that taping wasn’t in the normal studio. It’s all about the playing the game, and so far, Obama seems to know how to play it best.
ReplyDeleteI voted for Obama and still myself as a fan, but when I read his answers for the school debt of college students, it made me wonder if he actually wrote the answers. I think it would be cool if the President took the time to answer my emails, but at the same time, I am pretty sure he has more important things to do than answer pissed off college students. So if that’s the case, who is actually the master? The president or the person writing the scripted answers? Again, I know we have talked about most of this before, but I still liked reading it. Anyone in his position would be wise to do what he has been doing. Go outside and make sure that cameras are everywhere to take ‘candid’ shots of you being a ‘normal everyday Joe’. He knows that most Americans want a person we can relate to and feel as if they know us personally. Obama might not ever come to my house for coffee, but I would rather him over than Romney. At least with Obama, I would feel more connected with him, because he ‘has been there, done that’. Romney was born into his riches, and is living in the clouds, and is disconnected with those around him.
Great job and pointing out the good things that Obama is doing, and taking a step and saying a few of the things you disagree with.
JP,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you focused on how Obama really focuses on appealing to the younger voters. Obama definitely does a great job at giving off the image of being "one of the guys" which makes him more relatable to all age groups. I think this is his biggest success in campaigning because it sends the message to voters that he understands what they're going through and what issues are the most important and deserve the most attention.
I'd have to agree with Kevin in regards to if Obama actually wrote the response to the college student, or if it was a paid writer who understands Obama's stand on the issue. It seems like Obama should be doing other things than personally responding to emails. If it is Obama, he did a great job at making the email perosnal, as if he were actually having a conversation with the writer. He clearly understands rhetoric and its powerful effect on an audience.
Overall, I really liked you piece. I thought you did a great job at looking into the rhetorical issues of ethos, logos, and pathos.
I thought this piece was very interesting. I liked how you looked at logos, pathos, and ethos to see what exactly Obama has been doing to get the younger vote, since it's no secret that that is what he's going for. I think that you did a very good rhetorical analysis on the subject.
ReplyDeleteAt one point, you mentioned the "black vote" along with the younger vote. I would either expand on this and how it connects to the younger vote, or take it out entirely. I think that this is another demographic that Obama is going for and could call for another paper entirely.
I also wanted to see more about how his style is effective. Is there proof that his rhetoric is working? Maybe some statistics would help to make your analysis stronger.
Lastly, I think that you used the terms "cool" and "funny" and other kind of subjective terms a little too often. What does it mean when he comes across as "cool?" What does "cool" look like? I think that the use of more objective terms would make the paper a lot stronger.
Overall, though, I think that you bring up great points and do well to thoroughly analyze Obama's rhetoric in terms of the younger voters.
JP -
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the range of this analysis, and the moves through modes of appeal and into style. I think you are correct in seeing these moments as rhetorically important aspects of the campaign and also as deliberate - in fact some of their success perhaps comes from seeming less deliberate than otherwise. You also explore nicely particular terms.
The place where you go the deepest is with the stylistic aspects - I think it would have helped there to include more specificity - i.e. instead of saying "Obama uses aschematiston, the use of plain, unadorned or un-ornamented language and soraismus, to mingle different languages affectedly, to appeal to specific groups" you might have cited the ways he does that. Most of the time that's a good idea in a piece like this: it extends the analysis and it gives the reader something concrete to hold onto. In this case, it's also kind of funny, as in the quote you include about the rookie basketball player.
The way you have it arranged makes it a bit dense to read. There is something about a blog posting that resists long paragraphs, it seems to me, and that demands some kind of breaking up of ideas both verbally and visually. But part of that too is structural: that is, you've written this in a kind of traditional academic structure, almost a 5 paragraph essay (you have an intro, three main points, and a conclusion, and it reads like that). Given your subject matter, and in this case your audience, I think there was room for a little more play than that in your writing.
Finally, you are a writing major, as I understand, and that means something when it comes to mechanics and usage and error. You simply have to learn how to proofread and edit more seriously. Writing loses credibility when it is full of errors like missing apostrophes and sentence fragments. If you don't know how to see these, I encourage you to try to learn. If you are going to make a strong impression with your writing, that is essential; without it, your ideas will not get noticed. So this is a form of professional advice: if you expect to make a living in one way or another with your writing, you better learn to put stuff in front of people that looks more edited. It also adds to the impression that it was hurried - I wondered as I read this how many drafts you went through, because it seems like it could have been revised a few more times to good effect. (This is an ethos problem, fundamentally: it diminishes the authority you have as a writer, and you cannot afford to do that if you want your ideas to be taken seriously).
Apart from that fairly large caveat, this is interesting and creative. I would have liked to see some more direct analysis and perhaps a little more attention to the structure - certainly more attention to style and correctness - but you have an interesting idea and a thoughtful approach. In the future, I'd like to see more evidence, though, of craft and intentionality, and that has to include careful editing and proofreading. If that is difficult for you, find a trusted friend who can help you with it.
Kirk