Presidential Campaign Comparison Essay

During the elections, those running for office tend to do what they believe will convince people to vote for them. Some opt for a sensitive touch and others opt for a more assertive. I believe Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are excellent examples and the presidential campaigns demonstrate it perfectly. Of course, it always depends on the person being convinced. Those that are being persuaded to do something, like voting, are in charge and need to be impressed personally. It is important to make the right move when it comes to advertising, maybe to not convince everyone but definitely most people.

The first source is from the Obama presidential campaign. The advertisement includes a picture of the candidate, positive sayings, and words, as

During the time when these sort of advertisements were being publicized the United States was going through a presidential election. The purpose what to inspire the voters and convey a positive idea of the candidate. Since the focus was to create a good image, adding words like ‘hope’ would make an impact. The audience is the American citizens would also most likely be drawn to advertising with the colors of what is their flag. It is directly stated that “he has a dream,” “he is hopeful,” and “he believes” making his beliefs explicit. With the colors of the flag, we can also tell that he is patriotic and not only believes in the mentioned words but in America as well. Since the picture seems to be full of ideas, I do not think there are any implicit messages. Due to the message not having any evident implicit messages, it is difficult to find any fallacies. Nothing in the message seems to be misleading, especially when it contains specific words or sentences. The words or sentences do not seem to have a double meaning or be open to interpretation. The message does appeal to reason (logos) since it includes words that we all want to hear. We all want to hope and to be able to trust the person leading the

The picture shows Hillary shaking someone’s hand, appearing to be friendly yet powerful. Also, the picture reads “She’ll get the job done. For us.” Giving a sense of assurance. As mentioned before, it depends on how people receive the message and the impact it has on them. Feeling reassured is definitely something that every leader wants from their people, evoking blind trust. The rhetorical context is also easy to identify since this advertisement was also meant for a presidential election. The purpose was to pursue people to take action and vote for her, focusing on the fact that she, Hillary, would make them feel safe. Unlike the other ad, this specific one does contain implicit messages. The reassuring sentence presented on this and implies that she is good enough, smart enough, and capable enough to take power. Also, the fact that with only one sentence she wants to say so much gives the sense that she is assertive and confident. The picture says plenty of the candidate. She is shaking a civilian’s hand and seems to care. She wants to transmit a sense of comfort and sensibility, but without saying it, unlike Obama. I believe that the explicit message is mostly on the one sentence she included. She’s confident and ready to take the job. The implicit messages could most likely be fallacies. We all denote those meaning how we best can see them, but they could all be false. Kairos has obviously