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?
Before even watching the clip, just by looking at the first frame, I already agreed with your initial analysis. This guy knows how to work an audience, just like so many other politicians. My question, though, is don't people get it? How can you not see you're being duped? Almost verything about political speeches is carefully orchestrated, from the suit cut, to the tie color, to the delivery, to the background. To me it is clear from the start that those people behind him were put there for exactly the reason you stated: to show a wide support base. If I were trying to show a broad base of support, I'd be a little less obvious and slimey about it. Isn't rhetoric about style and tact too?
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