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Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZJ5K0zo7dc

Obama Campaign Ad: Ready My Plan

Introduction

The paper analyzes of Obama Campaign Ad: Ready My Plan. The ad was Obama’s last message to the Americans before the 2008 presidential election. The paper starts by describing theories regarding elements and strategies of the campaign ad. Furthermore, it discusses the application of the theories vis-à-vis Obama campaign ad. In the last section, it provides a conclusion as well as recommendations on what needs to be added to the ad.

Analysis of the Obama Campaign Ad: Ready My Plan

This ad puts the context of the 2012 campaign front and center. What were the significant issues and circumstances of that campaign? The ad notes some of them. First of all, in 2012 Americans were still struggling through The Great Recession; they were involved militarily in Afghanistan; they were aware of the problems of oil dependency and the threat of global warming, and they were worried about the effects of outsourcing American manufacturing jobs. The ad lists some other concerns that were on the audience’s collective minds as well. In this ad, Obama responds to these outside forces directly, but in many ads, the context is implied. If the ad is about creating jobs, the context is the recession. If the ad is about using clean energy, the context might be global warming. These are broad notions of context, but there is a more immediate context here as well. In this ad, Obama notes that it is the final weeks of the campaign, so the context of this ad is a closing message. It's essential in a closing message (just like conclusion paragraphs in an essay) to sum up and reinforce your main points and to call your audience to action. A "call to action" is a type of context that has to do with saying the right thing at the appropriate time. The ancient Greeks had a term for this as well.

The author of the ad is Barrack Obama. He is the presidential candidate under Democrats. Likewise, I can say The Wall Street Journal played a role in the publication of the ad. Therefore, it is logical to argue that the author of the ad is the Wall Street Journal. In this case, the author of the campaign ad is either the actual rhetor is the publisher itself. Consequently, the ad addresses the Americans Obama (“Campaign Ad: Read My Plan," 2019). Obama wants his message every American who would participate in the 2008 presidential elections. It aims at winning more voters to his side. The kairos moment that the ad reveals relates to terrorism, unemployment, and lack of adequate resources in America. In 2008, there was a severe war in Afghanistan, and the president promised to end the war if he would be elected as the president of the United States of America. Therefore, coming up with the right policies at the right moment paved an avenue an avenue to the White House.

Crucially, the author uses ethos to persuade the audience (the Americans). Obama is eloquent, learned and speaks with vigor. His personality is charming, and this is persuasive enough to win the hearts of the American. He introduces his speech by giving examples to attract the attention of the audience. Furthermore, he uses gestures to make his message more meaningful (“Campaign Ad: Read My Plan," 2019). Besides, he maintains eye contact with the audience where necessary to ensure that the audience remains active throughout the speech. Evidenced in the ad, Obama is well-informed. He is well acquainted with information concerning statistics on the percentage of the population of unemployed individuals. At the same time, he is a position to trace the achievement of other leaders such as Senator Mike Lee. In general, it is correct to say that the author (Obama) is aware of the American history.

The other strategy that comes out clearly in the ad is logos. The author uses logic to pass the message to the audience. Here, the ad applies the use of examples as an approach of persuasion. For instance, Obama says, “we have much more to do to get back to work and make the middle-class security, and now Governor Romney believes that even with bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and fewer regulations on Wall Street.” Furthermore, the ad uses cause and consequences to convince the Americans that he is the right candidate (“Campaign Ad: Read My Plan," 2019). According to him, poor leadership in the main reason for issues such as unemployment, the high cost of living, and the war in Afghanistan. Lastly, the uses pathos styles in various instances. For example, Obama introduces the ad by saying, “If I can sit down with you in your living room and around the kitchen table and here’s what I’d say Mike took office, we were losing nearly eight hundred thousand jobs a month, and we were mired in Iraq today.” The statement evokes the feeling of sorrow and makes the audience to feel that they are part of the problem America faces. Hence, this prepares the audience to get ready for the message the author is about to convey in the ad.

Recommendations and Conclusion

In a nutshell, I would say that the ad follows the theories of rhetoric situation. It contains the elements discussed in theory: author, audience, context, and kairos. Furthermore, it incorporates the three the strategies of Aristotelian situation theory; logos, pathos, ethos. It was the last ad that made Obama to win the 2008 presidential elections. Significantly, the ad is short and takes about 2.05 minutes: This is necessary as it eradicates the unnecessary information that would have made the ad boring. On the other hand, I suppose the ad would have use rhetorical situation style known as “testimony logos.” In this style, an author uses the opinion of his opponents to win the voters to his side. In general, I would say that this is a marvelous campaign ad that is persuasive and capable of winning the hearts of a broad spectrum of audience.

Bibliography

"Obama Campaign Ad: Read My Plan." Kaltura. N.p., 2019. Web. 10 Jan. 2019..

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