Obama Political Speech Analysis

The numerous conventions of today 's political discourse have been specifically crafted in order to appeal to the general public. Some politicians deviate from these conventions in order to stand out. However many political leaders conform to them since it is the most reliable way to create a wide range of support. These carefully developed political norms are present and detectable among numerous speeches done by the most powerful and influential political leaders in the world. Since the public is easily manipulated by these conventions, presidents are usually found to utilize them. During Barack Obama 's fight to become the president of the United States, he conforms to certain conventions of political discourse such as euphemisms, pathos

First Obama tries to hide his intentions that might not appeal to the general public, and also hide the unwanted truths about the war on terror in order to provide a feeling of safety for the electorate. When Obama addressed the country 's economy, he uses phrases such as “investment” instead of government spending. Due to the negative connotations of ‘spending’, such as lavish and immoderate, he chose to use investment due to its opposite connotations so the audience believes that the tax money is used for a positive outcome. When advocating an increase in taxes he stated “revenue enhancement”, and “making spending reductions in the tax code,” to make tax increases more satisfactory to an overtaxed electorate. It makes the electorate unaware of the government 's actions, which cuts down the amount of citizens fighting against Obama and his decisions. Secondly he uses Euphemisms during his approach to the war on terror. Obama vaguely describes events as “overseas contingency operations,” and “man-caused disasters,” so the citizens forget the threat which Islamic jihadist still impose on the country. He is not specifically stating which ‘operations’ and which ‘men’ are causing these ‘disasters’, creating an illusion for the citizens. These euphemisms are intentional in order to hide the facts which are well known amongst the government. Thus Obama is conforming to the convention

By stating “ we are all connected as one” Obama is using direct address to create a relationship between him and the audience, making the public feel as a united group without discrimination or social class creating equality. By mentioning “those preparing to divide us”, Obama is using direct address with the term ‘us’ in order to create a feeling of unification and warmth between him and them. He creates a feeling of America against the world, allowing the audience to feel connected to one another. Obama uses pronouns when saying “we will get there” and “yes we can” to bring hope to the general public, and a feeling of motivation and encouragement. Through the statement “Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope”, he is using pronouns like ‘we’ so he does not single out any groups such as Mexicans, blacks or whites, gaining support from each one. Thus Obama adheres to the technique of direct address to create a feeling of unity and equality, destroy the existence of minority groups with the purpose to gain greater