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Student Name
Professor’s Name
Rough Draft: Rhetorical Analysis
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/election2012_campaign_ads?pg=2
Date
Rhetorical analysis: Political advertisements
Presidential campaigns, in most cases, have been characterized by features of the
competition, which has led to formulation and presentation of goals and objectives of each
candidate involved. This is considered to be the most tactical activity in the political arena. Some
of the major common issues addressed by presidential candidates includes poverty levels,
unemployment, the economic situation and resource allocation. Standards of living in the United
States have encountered a major decline since 2010 (Understand, Web 26). The 2012
presidential election between President Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney comprised such issues
as taxes, national debt, unemployment, healthcare and defense cuts.
One of the greatest arguments witnessed during the 2012 presidential campaigns focused
mainly on American economy. In his campaign, President Obama argued that the administration
was working towards ensuring that the deficit in employment opportunities is tackled so as to
allow the country to move in the right direction. Obama urged the people to have faith in his
government since they will ensure effective implementation of the stated policies as have been
promised. Political advertisements are so far the major way through which politicians can air
their views and strategies to sell to the people. Most politicians end up spending huge sums of
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money on political advertisements during their campaign. Tactful language and appealing use of
words is most often employed, considering the diversity of the target population in different
areas. This week’s reading puts insight to the political ad that I plan to write about. This paper
explains the rhetorical strategies in my chosen ad. The advertisements are aimed at making
viewers relate the practical aspects of politics to the real world situation and view the
developmental perspectives of the candidates. The political ad, produced by the Priorities USA
Action Political Action Committee, portrayed Romney’s promises to the people by aid of real
events in the life of an individual
George Lakoff explains the thoughts presented by different conservative people,
especially insights on how to effectively counter their arguments (Lack of). In his book Do not
think of an elephant, the author outlines various American values that most candidates are unable
to progressively articulate. Osborn also manages to show how different groups of people frame
their issues (Osborn 307). Being a popular policy maker and a good literate critic, Osborn has
been able to present and support favorable policies especially those which are aligned to values
and personal identities, most importantly, the issues that counter the best interests of other
people. In the book ‘Metaphors and Politics,’ the author argues that in most cases, we should not
just use ‘flowery’ words. These should be entirely reserved for literature purposes. However, it
elaborates the importance of metaphors in improving daily speech.
Romney applies metaphors throughout this ad in supporting his stance. But he did make a
mistake of framing himself. He makes an important point by saying that he is not a crook in
Lakoff’s, “Don’t Think of an Elephant.”To make it funny, everybody thought that he was a
crook. This was a lesson on the basic principle of framing. It is important not to use the language
of the other opponent when arguing with them. In his comment, Romney said that he was not
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going to do the same mistake that Obama did and was going to do successfully what Obama did
not. This was the significance of a failure, and it enabled the voters to perceive Romney’s
promises as empty therefore framing him negatively (Fowls 102).
The political advertisement was used to capture all the areas of interest in the United
States and state ways in which improvements can be done in different sectors. The advertisement
uses some words that show direct people’s involvement in planning for the activities that the
prospective president should focus on. This puts emphasis on the need to work together. In this
campaign ad, President Obama uses the phrase, "It is critically important to go out and vote.”
This is persuasive and gives the people an insight of the importance of voting. The phrase shows
the need for taking the matter of voting as a personal matter. Images of remedy in Osborn’s text
have been used to show a form of reassurance and recommendation of the results expected from
the promises made to the people. This shows how metaphorical words are used by politicians
enlightening the voters on what they should do; which is relatively evident from the author’s
work.
Osborn’s statements show the inclusive aspect of all other individual and do not focus on
a particular personality. This is a major way of motivating the audience and reassuring them of
support and deliverance. In the advertisement, President Obama consistently used the phrase;
"Let's get out there and vote.” It is a form of reassurance and shows commitment to unity. This
symbolizes the public appreciation and declaration of confidence in the candidates. The author’s
use of metaphors, as well as those used in the campaign ad, is a symbol of specific campaign sell
out policies and strategies.
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‘Metaphors we live by,’ by George Lakoff and Johnson Mark explains that metaphors
should only be considered as a mere figure of speech, and consistently influence our everyday
speech due to the required concepts and the need to create a relationship between different
situations. This plays a critical role in the definition of realities (Osborn 307). The author has
managed to provide numerous examples of various concepts used in our daily lives as well as
thoughts of politicians that have a relationship with several literary phrases. For example, the
phrase ‘Argument is war' has been used to show how much engagement is triggered between two
parties when an argument erupts.
Other phrases include; ‘your claims are indefensible’ which may have been used to mean
that some words used to argue a point may not have any literal justification and strength to
provide adequate reasoning. Another phase, ‘criticisms were right on target,’ is used by authors
to relate to the concept of aiming an attack on the opposite side. An example of a metaphor used
In President Obamas Inaugural speech in 2009 is ‘Greatness is never given, it must be earned.’ In
the phrase ‘time is money,’ the author relates time with money. This is an aspect of a metaphor
since the value of time is compared to money. Literary, one may think that the phrase mean that
having a lot of time signify having a lot of money. This is relatively the exact scenario
represented by the phrase of President Obama in his political advertisement when we relate the
aspect of money and earnings in real life since money is earned through hard work. This is
evident in president Obama’s speech when he says, ‘greatness is never given. It must be earned.’
Greatness is a value which is associated with money but literally, it cannot be viewed as having a
monetary value (Understand, Web 21).
The phrases ‘We are the people’ and ‘we need to get out and vote’ are other metaphorical
phrases in this campaign ad. These were used to relate the unity of the government and the
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people in provision of change as well as working towards a common goal. ‘For we the people
understand that our country cannot succeed….’ this made it possible for the audience to relate to
the aspect of unity, especially with involvement of other parties in his speech. The emotional
appeal presented in the advertisement creates a relationship with the listeners especially on the
need to convince them to vote and the candidate’s policies. The presidential elections in 2012
saw the reelection of president Obama. This was a crucial time for the American citizens
considering the economic situation in the nation and lack of employment opportunities for the
citizens. His economic plans, however, reflected a well formulated strategy and gave hopes to
the citizens. The political ad showed genuineness in the candidate’s sentiments especially with
regard to the connection established with the citizens. The facts given in the ad shows direct
repercussions of Romney’s actions which logically prove that he is not the preferred candidate of
the people.
In conclusion, the presidential election in 2012 saw President Obama take the lead for the
second term. This was particularly a moment when The United States faced hardship in
unemployment and economic sector. The reading has shown a great relationship with the phrases
used in the ad, about the real life situations mentioned in the speech (Osborn 309). Although
most of the conservative people kept criticizing the president’s political advertisement, the
Americans were grateful and expressed their liking for the president’s ideas. The conservatives
defended their claims arguing that the ad was party-biased and that most claims were based on
only the aspects of unity. On the other hand, the ad remains an inspiring article with regards to
the various factors used to relate to individual life and real concepts with the need to unify the
country. George Lakoff, Johnson and Michael Osborn have clearly explained the impact of
metaphorical phrases and their relevance to real-life concepts.
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Works Cited
Lakoff, George. Don't think of an Elephant: Know your values and frame the debate. White
River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2004. Print.
“Understand.” From Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential
Campaign Commercials 1952-2012. Web. 19 June. 2015.
Osborn, Michael. "Archetypal Metaphor in Rhetoric: The Light-Dark Family." 2009. Print.
Fowls, J. Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals: Readings and Writings About America Popular
Culture Ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998. Print.