Blog #4: Campaigns and Speeches and the Making of a President

So if you're reading this blog for Erin Flewelling's RWS 200 class in spring 2018, you are probably 18 or 19 or 20 years old. That means that Barack Obama was president of the United States for most of your lifetime, or at least the lifetime you remember. 

And so having a black man for president seems normal.

 But Obama was the first, and given America's history of slavery and ongoing racial oppression, his election, even his candidacy were momentous marks in American history.

It almost didn't happen.

Rumors surrounded Obama's campaign almost from the beginning, all designed to make it seem like Obama wasn't really very American.

Here are some of the things people said about him.

• His name sounds like Osama bin Laden.
• He is a Muslim. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but remember, this is post-9-11, and a lot of people viewed Muslims as terrorists.
• He doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin. 
• He was born in Kenya. 
• His pastor, the Reverand Jeremiah Wright, wants God to damn America. Yes, this was a Christian pastor, so it kind of messes up the "Obama is a Muslim" claim.

Obama largely let the rumors dissipate, but when an excerpted video of his pastor's sermon floated headlined the nightly news, he knew he needed to respond to the rumors and reconstruct his ethos. He needed to connect to the voters and show that in spite of the rumors, in spite of the fact he looked and sounded different than pretty much any other candidate in the history of America, he was very American. In order to win the Democratic nomination--or the election, he needed to demonstrate he was trustworthy.

Oh--and did I mention this is 2008, the height of the Great Recession? The voters know this presidential election matters. 

In this speech, Obama has to respond to the concerns Americans have about him, concerns they have for the economy, concerns they have about the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and concerns they have about the future of America. And he needs to demonstrate that they can trust him, that he is the right person for the job.

In this blog, analyze how Obama uses rhetorical strategies responds to all these concerns and builds trust for this very specific audience of Americans living in the midst of the economic meltdown of 2007-2008. (Btw, you don't need to sound like you're writing an essay. This is still a blog.)

At this point, I name all the things that Aristotle says will build ethos: 1) He seems knowledgeable; 2) he seems to share audience values; 3) he seems concerned for his readers; 4) he seems fair and objective; 5) he seems good. Obama doesn't need all of these things, but he needs at least some of them.

Remember, 500-750 words. Use at least one relevant quotation in context. And respond to at least two other people.