Rhetoric/Writing 131

Serving the People, Through the People

“He’s never balanced a budget, but I have 11 times” stated William Jefferson Clinton in his acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Clinton did an award winning job of giving a speech in such a way, that his audience felt personally connected with him and his motives. With Clinton’s comforting values and his impressive choice of words, he let his audience, the common middle-class Democrat, know that they were on the top of his agenda if he was elected as the President of The United States. Through the use of great wording and in-depth examples of his honorable values, Clinton demonstrated that he was the man for the job. Clinton appealed to many listeners by his care full use of ethos, these ethos included personal experiences and his demonstration of selflessness in whole. “I am a product of that middle class, and when I am President, you will be forgotten no more,” Clinton remarked. When Clinton made this statement, he had all of his viewers in mind. He showed that with his small town ethics, he could bring the power back to the people. A great example of this would be when Clinton stated, “The election is about putting power back in your hands and putting the government back on your side.” Clinton extensively thanked his mother for his fighting spirit and his courage in life. Before Clinton was born, his father died in an accident. His mother had a make a sacrifice, this sacrifice was to send Bill to live with his grandparents in Arkansas, while she stayed in Louisiana to work. Bill witnessed a scenario that is unquestionably common in today’s society. From this experience with his mother, Bill reached out verbally to the single parents of the nation. He stated, “that’s why I’ll fight to create high-paying jobs so that parents can afford to raise their children today.” Clinton used an example from his Grandfathers life to show how he received the value of equality. Clinton appealed to all race when he told his Grandfather’s story of how he ran a country store in the little town of hope. With food stamps not being available and times being hard, not everyone could afford to put food on the table. White or black, money or none, Clinton’s Grandfather gave them food. Clinton also mentions his wife Hillary. He stated, “Hillary taught me. She taught me that all children can learn and that each of us has a duty to help them do it.” By this statement, Clinton showed the audience that he not only cared about tax payer, but he also cared for the tax payer’s family. Clinton used these emphasizes toward other people to show that he was a caring, down to earth politician, that was in-touch with his family. When I say family, you may think of only his wife and children. In Clinton’s eyes, the nation was a family, government was a family, and his cabinet would be a family. As stated above, Clinton wanted to put the power back in the people’s hands and the government at their side. This equilibrium that Clinton spoke about was in his mind, a family. Clinton emphasized his running mate Al Gore. He did this to strengthen his overall appearance of unity and selflessness. Clinton stated his motives and values through personal experiences, but just when the audience may have began to look at this all as bragging, he showed that he was not going into this election alone and reinforced his message by acknowledging his companions on the campaign trail. Many people sat and wondered if Clinton could handle the job of balancing the Nation’s budget and getting America back on track economically. Clinton answered this question by referring to his personal experience in Arkansas when he balanced their budget 11 times. I believe this helped Clinton gain at least a grain of credibility in the eyes and ears of the audience. Clinton referred back to his quality of selflessness when he made the statement, “now I don’t have all the answers, but I do know the old ways don’t work.” By admitting this limitation, Clinton was stating that his ideas might not solve every problem but he would do everything in his power to satisfy the problem or question at hand. He was referring back to the fact that he too could be classified as a common person. Another method Clinton used to make a connection emotionally with his audience was by the use of pathos. As stated above, Clinton was in-touch with his family. From the beginning of the speech, Clinton was using verbal references toward this idea. Clinton made the remarks in the second paragraph of his speech, “Tonight I want to talk with you about my hope for the future, my faith in the American people, and my vision of the kind of country we can build.” Clinton used great wording in this statement. He used a small but powerful word, this word was we. This showed the audience his passion for how he conducted his life and business around family. This family as stated above was more than just blood related. This family was every person in which Clinton reached out to on an emotional level through verbal wordings. Clinton used the simple words “New Covenant,” to describe his plan for the wellness of our Nation. Clinton stated that the New Covenant was, “A solemn agreement between the people and their government based not simple on what each of us can take but what all of us must give to our nation.” This statement can be summed down to one word, the word is unity. Clinton passed on to his audience the idea that this country must once again be united as one. I believe that after this speech every single person in the audience at least felt a small bit a patriotic spirit towards the US of A. This was Clinton goal. Clinton valued family. He made a statement that verified that. Clinton said, “ if other politicians make you feel like you are not part of their family, come on and be part of ours.” He also stated, “ I want every person in this hall and every person in this land to reach out and join us in a great new adventure, to chart a bold new future.” These statements refer to the beginning of this paragraph. Clinton repetitively uses words like “us” and “we” to show unity and references to a free nation of one. One, representing a country ran by the people for the people. The third rhetorical appeal that Clinton used would be logos. Clinton used his home state of Arkansas as a resource to aid in verification of his credibility toward the audience and his vision of the nation in the future. Clinton stated, “there’s no Arkansas miracle, but there are a lot of miraculous people. And because of them, our schools are better, our wages are high, our factories are busier, our water is cleaner, and our budget is balanced. Were moving ahead.” Clinton was playing the common sense card by saying this statement. Clinton trying to make a simple point to the people of our nation, I did it in Arkansas, so I can do it for you too. Clinton also used his schooling to his aid. He mentioned that he attended Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale Law School. All three of these schools have a very good political reputation. Clinton hoped that with his motives and credibility through personal experiences and with his extensive political education, he would be able to satisfy the nations need for a new leader and a fresh start. Clinton reached out emotionally and verbally to viewers around the nation. He used ethos, pathos, and logos to communicate his message to the audience. He used strong appeal to emotion by sharing personal stories of how he obtained his values as a citizen of the United States of America. I believe that Clinton achieved his mission of bringing our country together by referring back to his values of family. Clinton accepted his nomination with gratitude but yet let his audience know he was in it for the people and for the long haul.