CAS Artifact Paper

7/30/2019 CAS Artifact Paper

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Erika Arrojado

Professor Lori Bedell

12 October 2012

Why is the art of persuasion so important? Why do companies spend millions of dollars

on advertisements? The answer is this: the art of persuasion, namely rhetoric, has the power to

move people, to affect change. A two by three inch clip in a magazine could convince someone

to purchase a can of Coca-Cola. A 30 second sound bite on the radio could influence a person to

switch insurance companies. With a strong rhetorical strategy, a persons behavior or opinion

could very well change. This becomes especially important when it comes to presidential

campaigns. Every presidential poster, every advertisement in print, every campaign commercial

each has an impact on voters. These commercials are not simply trying to gain more revenue

for a company. They are trying to persuade an entire nation to choose the right future.

Consequently, presidential campaigns demand strong and effective rhetoric. In the 2008

presidential elections in which democrat Barack Obama and republican John McCain were

running, the DemocraticNational Committee produced a commercial entitled Better Off.

In this short commercial, the Democratic Party successfully wins votes by effectively employing

logical structure, condescending presentation of character, and complex emotional appeal.

With the intention of presenting a case of needed change, this commercial illustrates the

current dilemma that the state of American welfare is declining. At the time of this 2008

campaign, the nation had just entered a period of economic recession in December of the

previous year (Gross). Americans also struggled with other matters, such as high health care

costs, rising gas prices, and increasing unemployment rates (The Living Room Candidate). In

addition, based on a CNN article, more and more people were becoming increasingly unhappy

with President George W. Bush because of his unwavering involvement in the war in Iraq


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(Steinhauser). These issues certainly played a role in the voters opinions and subsequently in the

rhetoric of the campaign as well.

The premise that the narrator of the commercial presents is that America is in need of

change. Subsequently, the proposition that this advertisement is making is that McCain will not

bring the change that the country needs, which is why voters should vote for Barack Obama

instead. In order for the commercial to illustrate that, it presents McCains response to how

Americans were fairing presently compared to the past. The structure of this presentation is such

that after each of McCains claims, a statistic would appear that invalidated that specific claim;

each assertion was proceeded with a counter argument. Through this juxtaposition, McCain is

proven to be false on every account. It practically and logically follows that McCain cannot be

trusted as leader because of either his inability to recognize the struggle of American citizens or

his disposition to present dishonest information.

Furthermore, these false claims tap into some commonplaces of the American public,

which allows the logos of this structure to be more evident. For example, there is the idea that all

Americans should have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; Americans should

be able to make a living and support themselves. McCain believes that the American public is

achieving this, but the commercial logically proves that instead, people are losing jobs and the

cost of living is increasing. When viewers realize that the commonplaces they once held are in

jeopardy, they will more readily accept the premise that things will not be better off with

McCain as president.

Not only does the logical proof present McCain as a flawed leader, but so does the ethical

proof. This commercial only uses one character for rhetorical persuasion and that character is

John McCain. Here, as was mentioned before, he is portrayed as a deceitful candidate. Outside of

this commercial, McCain held a respectable reputation. An online political article agreed that he


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was known as an independent Maverick and a war hero, after being a war prisoner in the

Vietnam War (Saad). By shedding a more negative light on this proclaimed hero, this

commercial succeeds in diminishing his credibility. In addition to his lies, his evident

unawareness of Americans current struggle also takes away from his credibility as a leader. A

voter is not going to choose a candidate that does not care for the people. After the evidence has

revealed McCains untruthful and insensible side, he no longer has the ethos to support his

character. This in turnboosts Barack Obamas credibility as the better candidate.

Aside from the use of character, this commercial also employs the use of time as a means

of rhetorical strategy. The opening of the commercial has a journalist asking McCain if

Americans are better off than they were 8 years ago?(Better Off). This specific timeline was

chosen for a reason. The eight years preceding the 2008 election belonged to the administration

of President Bush. Towards the end of his presidency, Bush was becoming more unpopular and

statistics showed that McCain voted with Bush about 90 percent of the time, as stated in the

Washington Post (Baker & Abramowitz). By connecting McCain to Bush and his 8 years of

presidency, the commercial further dismantles McCains credibility. Because of this association,

the American citizens that were tired and frustrated with the Bush administration would also feel

antipathy toward McCain. With McCains weakened ethos, Obama becomes the more credible

choice.

Finally, pathos also plays a part in the rhetorical strategies of this commercial. The

average American would be emotionally affected by the facts given to invalidate McCain. Those

who know what it is like to be unemployed would feel sympathy upon discovering that

employment has gone up. Those who own personal vehicles would be angered to find that they

are paying much more for gasoline. Already, the audience is stirred, but the emotional appeal is

then further enhanced through the delivery of information. A point to make about the delivery is


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Works Cited

Baker, Peter, and Michael Abramowitz. History and Necessity Unite Bush, McCain. The

Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 9 Feb. 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2012.

Better Off. Commercial. The Living Room Candidate. 26 April 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2012.

Gross, Daniel. The Recession is Over? The Daily Beast. The Newsweek, 13 July 2009.

Web. 4 Oct. 2012.

Saad, Lydia. McCain Widely Recognized as a War Hero. Gallup Politics. Gallup Inc., 28

April 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2012.

Steinhauser, Paul. Poll: Bushs Popularity Hits New Low. CNN Politics. Cable News Network,

19 March 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2012.

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