Barack Obama Speech Rhetorical Analysis

After the September 11 attacks and the subsequent declaration of the Iraq War, the American populace was more eager than ever to elect a president who would be capable of deescalating tensions and crises around the world. Under George W. Bush’s presidency, the American government declared a War on Terrorism, established Guantanamo Bay, passed the PATRIOT Act, and cut taxes for the wealthy and more. Some people, especially those who were Democratic, were dissatisfied with the course of action President Bush decided to take, and they were ready to elect a different president after Bush’s tumultuous term. Barack Obama, a senator at the time, gave a speech at the Democratic Convention announcing his support of John Kerry’s presidential campaign. In his speech, Barack Obama uses ethos and its related rhetorical strategies to highlight the similarities and minor differences between themselves to make John Kerry seem like a viable presidential candidate to the common American citizen. Barack Obama uses invented ethos to explain the considerable differences between
He uses his common upbringing to contrast with Kerry’s more prestigious upbringing to show how the two could still work together. Despite Barack Obama’s valiant attempts to bring the American people to a consensus to vote for John Kerry, his cause ultimately fails because Bush was reelected for a second term. Some of the voters who supported Bush claimed that they voted for him because they felt that they would rather have a beer with Bush than Kerry. However, this speech may have paved the way to Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. In fact, Obama’s ability to bring different groups of people together for a common cause allowed him to win the 2008 election, and perhaps the 2012 election as