The Advertising The Advertising Rhetoric of Barack Rhetoric of Barack Obama and Mitt Obama and Mitt

RomneyRomneyFrank E. Parcells, Ph. D., Professor

Department of CommunicationAustin Peay State University

2012 Tennessee Communication Association

Convention

Political Ads in 2012 Political Ads in 2012 Presidential CampaignPresidential Campaign

• I will rhetorically examine two specific television political ads from the 2012 Presidential race: one for the Democratic Obama Campaign and one for the Republication Romney Campaign.

• I have selected two television ads from YouTube.com for use in this TCA Convention program.

• Should you desire to download a copy of this PowerPoint presentation, you can do so at my website, http://DrParcells.org/, and click on menu bar selecting “PowerPoint Presentations.”

Barack Obama

Mitt Romney

Rhetoric DefinedRhetoric Defined• Quintilian say’s rhetoric is “the good man

speaking well.”• Aristotle believes that rhetoric is “finding the

available means of persuasion.”• Plato defines rhetoric as “a philosophy” and

not an art, an unnecessary tool.• Isocrates indicates that rhetoric is “the power

of persuading.”• Cicero claims rhetoric is “speaking in a way

adapted to persuade.”• Thus, regardless of whether rhetoric is ethical

persuasion or not rhetoric is certainly a means of persuasion.

Fact Checking Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC Fact Checking Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC

SpeechSpeech

I’ve used FactCheck.org as a first step for checking out Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC speech accuracy, reliability and trustworthiness to help assess and establish Clinton’s ethos of source credibility as a Democratic spokesperson for the Obama Presidential Campaign.

FactCheck.org (2012) offers this about Clinton’s 2012 DNC speech:

Former President Bill Clinton Speaking at the

2012 DNC

Republicans will find plenty of Clinton’s scorching opinions objectionable. But with few exceptions, we found his stats checked out.

The worst we could fault him for was a suggestion that President Obama’s Affordable Care Act was responsible for bringing down the rate of increase in health care spending, when the fact is that the law’s main provisions have yet to take effect.

Fact Checking Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC Speech Fact Checking Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC Speech

and Establishing His Credibility as a and Establishing His Credibility as a

SpokespersonSpokesperson

Further FactCheck.org and many other fact checking websites in addition to print and electronic news industry sources which have identified Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC speech as the only speech given at either the RNC or DNC this year which did not contain overwhelming factually inaccurate information (including the distortion of statistical facts).

•Clinton offered factual information (logos) with some story telling examples (mythos) and emotional appeals (pathos) all of which Aristotle believed lead to a credible source (ethos).

•Further, Clinton clearly has charisma and charm working for him during his speeches, but does this transfer to a political TV ad where he becomes the narrator of a “Commander and Chief” endorsement of the President based on Obama’s military leadership role in capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden?

Obama’s 2012 Political Obama’s 2012 Political AdAd

• Obama’s Political TV Ad: “One Chance”

• Content: Obama as U. S. Commander and Chief establishing his military leadership for capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden.

• Spokesperson: Former President Bill Clinton

One Chance One Chance to Get It Right to Get It Right

Obama AdObama Ad• Clinton starts out his ad narrative

in the One Chance commercial saying, “That’s one thing that George Bush said that was right: the President is the decider and chief. Nobody can make that decision for you.”

• He continues, “Look. He knew what would happen. Suppose the Navy Seals had gone in there and it hadn’t been Bin Laden. Suppose they’d been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible for him.”

• “But he reasoned, ‘I cannot in good conscience do nothing.’ He took the harder and the more honorable path.”

Clinton (above) from the One Chance political ad and a shot of President Obama (below) from the same ad.

One Chance One Chance to Get It Right to Get It Right

Obama AdObama Ad

Let’s watch the entire political ad from YouTube.com.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=BD75KOoNR9k&NR=1

One Chance One Chance Political Political AdAd

• Says Clinton, telling the story of Obama decision making to kill Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, “He had to decide!”

• Notice the dark silhouette of President Obama in the White House window suggesting he was tasking over his decision to capturing or kill Osama bin Laden.

• What an emotional appeal (Aristotle’s pathetic proof)?

One Chance One Chance Political Political AdAd

• Says Clinton, “That’s what you do. You hire the President to make the calls when no one else can do it.”

• Then the screen fades to black and the 2012 Obama campaign logo fills the viewing TV sets.

One Chance Political One Chance Political AdAd

• At first view the One Chance political ad seems to high light the the courage of President Obama as the Commander and Chief who made the decision to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

• Considering former President Bill Clinton is narrating the commercial, stop and think for a moment about his failed attempt as president to kill the same terrorist, Osama bin Laden.

The Rhetoric of the The Rhetoric of the One ChanceOne Chance Political Political

AdAdNewsBusters.org probably said it best in a report by Noel Sheppard (May 3, 2012) in his column on Brian Williams coverage of the bin Laden killing, noting:

NBC's special presentation of Rock Center on the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's assassination wasn't just a victory lap for Barack Obama.

It was also a chance for host Brian Williams to praise Bill Clinton for going after the former al Qaeda leader without mentioning all the times his administration passed on chances to get him.

Even with all of the rhetorical credibility former President Bill Clinton has reestablished himself during the 2012 Presidential Election, he failed to complete the very same task to kill Osama bin Laden that he complements President Obama for achieving. Why was Clinton selected as Obama’s spokesperson for this particular political TV ad? Could it be his 2012 credibility?

Other Ethos in the Other Ethos in the One Chance One Chance Political Political

AdAd• With the addition of

some screens showing Romney’s challenges of Obama’s military decision to go inside Pakistani soil to capture or kill bin Laden, there is clearly another credibility issue which asks about Romney’s own ethos when he challenges Obama’s actions.

• Keep in mind, however, that credibility might have been an issue with former President Bill Clinton, but it was not an issue with others.

• By taking an excerpt from CNN, the One Chance political ad actually carried what might well be considered a Wolf Blitzer endorsement of the President’s credibility.

Repetition Builds Repetition Builds Reputation in Reputation in One Chance One Chance

AdAdThe videotape of CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer’s questioning Romney’s statement that “It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars catching one person (referring to bin Laden).” Blitzer called into question this statement saying “It’s (referring to Romney’s statement above) generated a little controversy….”

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer

Ethos in Ethos in One Chance One Chance AdAd

• Andrew Dulgan (2010) from Six Minutes Speaking and Presentation Skills defines ethos as containing four major elements:

Trustworthiness – Are you a good person whom the audience thinks will tell the truth?

Similarity – Does your audience identify with you?

Authority – Do you have formal or informal authority relative to your audience?

Reputation – How much expertise does your audience think you have on the topic or in the field?

Mitt Romney’s Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Political Ad: Dear Dear

DaughterDaughter

Mitt Romney’s Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Political Ad: Dear Dear

DaughterDaughter

• Let’s look at Romney’s political ad, Dear Daughter, at YouTube.com now.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkvN7GCcTVk

Mitt Romney’s Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Political Ad: Dear Dear

DaughterDaughter

• Mitt Romney’s Dear Daughter 2012 political ad starts with a video of a mother and daughter.

• The female voice of the narrator says, “Dear daughter. Welcome to America. Your share of Obama’s debt is over $50,000.00 and it grows everyday. Obama’s policies are making it harder on women.”

Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Dear Dear

DaughterDaughter

• The announcer says, “The poverty rate for women is the highest in 17 years.”

• “More women are unemployed under President Obama.”

• “More than 5 and ½ million women can’t find work.”

Emotional appeals (Aritstotle’s pathos) are clearly at work here with the video content of a baby and mother repeated throughout this political ad.

Mitt Romney’s Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Political Ad: Dear Dear

DaughterDaughterRomney’s narrator ends her part of the commercial, saying, “That’s what Obama’s policies have done for women. Welcome daughter!”

Mitt Romney’s Mitt Romney’s Political Ad: Political Ad: Dear Dear

DaughterDaughter

• Romney’s political ad concludes with the scene above and Romney saying, “I’m Mitt Romney and I approve this message.”

Rhetorical Analysis of Mitt Rhetorical Analysis of Mitt

Romney’s Romney’s Dear Daughter Dear Daughter Political Political

AdAd• Clearly Romney is

aiming at all women who have emotional ties to the latest and future generations with this Dear Daughter TV commercial.

• What’s really important with this ad is a what’s left out of this TV commercial and not what it contains.

• Aristotle’s mythos (narrative story telling) and pathos (emotional appeals) combined with limited statistics (logos) are the primary ingredients of the Dear Daughter 2012 Presidential Campaign Ad.

• Together they ad up to some level of credibility (Aristotle’s ethos) for Romney emphasizing what’s not been accomplished by Obama.

Rhetorical Analysis of Mitt Rhetorical Analysis of Mitt

Romney’s Romney’s Dear Daughter Dear Daughter Political Political

AdAd

• Where’s women’s rights mentioned?

• Where’s “free choice” on abortion mentioned?

• Where’s equal pay for equal work by women mentioned?

• What’s left out of this political ad?• The most controversial women’s issues of this campaign

and American society are not addressed in this TV ad.• These issues are simply bypassed in favor of those

Romney favors for women.

• Where’s women’s sexual orientation mentioned?

• Where’s the right of lesbian couples to marry mentioned?

What’s Not in the What’s Not in the Dear Dear Daughter Daughter ad?ad?

• The most important persuasive device in this commercial is what is not addressed in Romney’s Dear Daughter political ad.

• The American Advertising Federation (2011) in its professional Principles and Practices for Advertising Ethics considers the omission of information in ads as much an act of dishonesty as outright fabrication or distortion of the facts.

What’s Not in the What’s Not in the Dear Dear Daughter Daughter ad?ad?

• Thus, the most significant issue of this political advertisement is one of dishonesty or omission of relevant facts.

• It’s a question of ethics and credibility (ethos) is raised by this TV ad.

ReferencesReferencesAmerican Advertising Federation & Institute for Advertising Ethics. (2011). AAF/IAE Principles and Practices for Advertising Ethics (Snyder, W., Ed.). Retrieved October 3, 2012 from http://www.aaf.org/ images/public/aaf_content/images/ad%20ethics/ IAE_Principles_Practices.pdf.

Dlugan, A. (Feb 7, 2010). 15 tactics to establish ethos: examples of persuasive speaking from Six Minutes Speaking and Presentation Skills. Retrieved October 3, 2012 from http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/ethos- examples-speaking/.

ReferencesReferencesObama Campaign. (April 27, 2012). One chance. Video produced by the Democratic National Committee for the Obama Presidential Campaign. Retrieved on October 2, 2012 from http:// www.youtube.com/watch? feature=endscreen&v=BD75KOoNR9k&NR=1.

Sheppard, N. (May 3, 2012). Brian Williams praises Bill Clinton for trying to kill Bin Laden, ignores all the missed opportunities in Newsbusters.org. Retrieved October 3, 2012 from http://newsbusters.org/ blogs/ noel-sheppard/2012/05/03/brian-williams-praises-bill- clinton-trying-kill-bin-laden-ignores-all#ixzz28BE0RQh2.

ReferencesReferencesRobertson, L., Kiely, E., Jackson, B., & Farley, R. (Sept. 6, 2012). Our Clinton nightmare from FactCheck.org. Retrieved on October 2, 2012 from http:// www.factcheck.org/2012/09/our-clinton-nightmare/.

Romney Campaign. (Sept 17, 2012). Dear Daughter. Video produced by the Republican National Committee for the Romney Presidential Campaign. Retrieved on October 2, 2012 from http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkvN7GCcTVk1.

Copies of this Copies of this PowerPoint PowerPoint PresentationPresentation

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