I'll Never Believe a Man that Speaks of Tough Economic Times in a $3,000 Suit

                As most of you know, the State of the Union address was delivered very recently by President Obama. Everyone with an interest in politics is, of course, all over the analysis of his speech. But how about the rebuttals? Let’s sample the first minute of a response from the Republican Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell. The clip is featured below. 

                First, let’s note his choice of background within the camera shot. My my, how brilliantly political: there are two males, two females, an Asian, a black person (I won’t say African-American; I don’t know if she’s American or not), two white people, two young people, two older people, and someone from the military… And that’s only four people. It seems pretty clear to me that this is a manipulation of image, a concept that is touched on in our textbook. After all, it is politically savvy to represent as many different backgrounds as possible in the camera, since it implies that his party has a wide and inclusive base. In only four people, there are eight demographics represented, so I would say he wins the efficiency award. Then, the icebreaker of his speech? The note that his sons have limited his time so they can catch Sportscenter. This deals with image as well, but not in the visual sense. By giving a nod to his sons, he gives the impression that he is a family man, representative of family values, a status of which any politician is glad to be charged. Even using Sportscenter, he is hinting at the concept of watching sports, an attention grabber for any of the many people in the US that watch sports. 

Overall, these observations pertain to Ethos, since they work to improve the governor’s image and credibility with his audience. What I take from this as a lesson is that the beginning of a speech is a great time to really push Ethos, since one cannot really dive into Logos without prepping the audience, and it may seem too insincere to immerse oneself in Pathos from the get-go without having the audience prepped and ready to believe the speaker. But more importantly, I realize from watching this video that politics are less about the facts, and more about the delivery. Thoughts?

Sex, Lies, and CNN - A Chilling Exposé

            Now that I grabbed your attention with the surprisingly apt title, take a look at this video starting at 2:15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wwf7UFYQnM

            This is from Republican Debate in South Carolina on Wednesday. While I usually enjoy making jokes at Newt Gingrich’s portly expense, I must refrain in the interest of getting an opinion on the exchange that occurred between Newt and the moderator, John King. So if you watch the video, you observe that the first question John asks is a question about Newt Gingrich’s personal affairs involving his ex-wife. Newt then goes on a tirade about the nerve of CNN, the liberal media ruins everything, yadda yadda yadda. All bias aside, however, which party is being more truly “civic?” Consider their angles.

Essentially, John is questioning whether Newt ever asked his (then) wife if they could try spicing things up with other partners while keeping their marriage. This is a pretty saucy question, and quite a stab to take at Newt as the first question of the night. Sure, I guess it could tie to Newt’s personal integrity if you really care about the sex lives of old white men, but as the FIRST QUESTION? At the very least, the timing of the question isn’t exactly gracious, but it is up to the listener to research and decide if the question itself is a legitimate one.

Newt is on the receiving end here, and it is one of those moments where you wish you had a readout on his heart rate as the question was being asked. Immediately, Newt is up in arms, jiggling on and on about anything but the answer to the question. Newt does eventually decide that answering the question is a good idea, but not after a full two minutes of Pathos-saturated speech against the liberal-media that REALLY appealed to the audience. So yes, I understand why Newt would be upset that John didn’t ask him about his new tie first, but notice he waited until his audience was good and fired up before he actually answered the question.

So what’s the deal? Is John King moderating or questioning unfairly? Is Newt being avoidant and slick? Is it both, neither, or am I missing something? Does Ron Paul still exist? I don’t know. What I do know is that Newt Gingrich looks like a dollop of sour cream with eyebrows. Beyond that though, I would like input from someone else before I formulate my own opinions on the matter.