Joe Biden's use of Pathos

To the question "What promises will your campaign not be able to keep because of bailout?" Joe Biden used the rhetorical appeal pathos to argue his points. He tried to appeal to the emotions of the audience. To do this he had to set a tone to his argument. He began talking about “corporate America” and the super wealthy getting tax cuts. The way he states these terms during his speech gives them a negative connotation. A vast majority of Americans are not in the elite class of the super wealthy and would be likely to feel compelled to agree with this argument. The next thing he does is to use the pronoun “we.” Humans like to feel included, and the way he talks about “we” and “us” making changes makes the viewers feel like he is one of them. This feeling of having a person include themselves as part of the rest of the United States, rather than an aloof leader who only cares about their own opinions also reaches out to the feelings of those watching and listening. Another technique he uses of the pathos appeal to viewers is to reach out to them with physical appearance and gestures. When he is speaking, he looks directly into the camera. He keeps eye contact with it through all of his important, more-emotional statements, like he is actually talking to a viewer. It feels like he is trying to have a normal one-on-one conversation with each and every person, and gives the feeling that he cares. Although maybe not in the “sexual imagery” context that Envision describes in chapter 2 (Understanding the Strategies of Persuasion), Biden definitely uses his physical appearance to appeal to emotions. People in general are more attracted to clean-looking, well dressed, attractive people, and Biden works on his appearance. For being old, he presents himself well. He dresses in a sharp-looking dark suit, the “power suit” of politics. He also wears a blue tie to match. This could have some significance. Since he is a member of the Democratic party, and the Democratic party is associated with the color blue, this could be an intentional move to influence viewers. He also has extremely white perfect teeth, which makes his face a little more pleasing to look at and this might make people be drawn to “nonrational impulses than to our powers of logical reasoning” (Envision 41). One other strategy he uses is “the slippery slope.” Biden focuses a lot on taxes. He even implies strategies like ethos to discredit the Republican views on taxes. He makes America feel like what the Republicans are doing with tax cuts will be harmful and send the economy on a downward spiral while oil companies like Exxon Mobile, who already have enough money are getting richer and richer. That’s why, he says, people should side with him and vote for him: to save them from being victim to scams to giving the wealthy even more money.

Third Presidential Debate "Energy, Foreign Oil"

Each candidate tries to use logos to explain why his plan makes more sense or is more logical. Senator McCain pushes the use of nuclear energy, and also wishes to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Although Obama argues that nuclear power could be harmful or dangerous, McCain logically implies that navy ships have been powered by nuclear energy for years and carried nuclear power plants on them and there has been no problem. Obama on the other hand thinks that it would be logical to use more natural forms of energy: natural gas, biofuels, etc., because they are plentiful in the United States, and are better for the environment. He also wants to utilize the fuel resources we have by drilling into the acres of land that have not been harvested for oil yet, especially with offshore drilling. Another part of the logical scheme he has developed is to create more fuel-efficient cars to compensate for the lack of fuel resources.

Senator Obama appeals more to the emotions of the people for this question than does McCain. Obama talks about the hardships that Americans face because of the dwindling economy and the increasing cost of energy because of dependence on foreign fuel. McCain lacks the appeal to America’s emotions, but rather focuses more on the next point, ethos.

Image is very important to establish as candidates trying to be the leader of our nation. McCain tries to discredit the character of Obama by bringing up some of his policies about free trade. He uses logic to show that Obama’s plan is flawed, which sends Obama into needing to protect his point. Obama is trying to defend the statement that he said that America would unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA and Canada can sell their oil to China. Even though he makes an attempt to restore his ethos, the negatively charged idea of “free-trade” is stuck with him after McCain’s initial attack.

When the two candidates arrange the order of items to talk about in their argument they have to consider how it will affect the audience, depending on which points are stronger. McCain gets to answer first on this question, which could be an advantage because he gets to start off the subject the way he wants is to go. It could also be a disadvantage because Obama will get the last word in. McCain starts with a strong statement. He says that America can eliminate dependence on Middle Eastern oil and Venezuelan oil. Such a strong statement as this captures the attention of the listener immediately. He then goes into a more detailed plan, and makes comments about why Obama’s plan is ineffective early on. This strategy works because Obama cannot immediately defend himself. When it is Obama’s turn to answer the question, he also chooses to start with broad generalities and then works into specifics. He implies the technique of getting the last word in by defending his policies and slightly diverges from the main point to emphasize one of his stronger ideals of supporting the working American.