The Rhetorical President

TownHall ^ | February 16, 2009 | Janice Shaw Crouse

[dbz77]

The use of language to persuade is a skill much admired since ancient times. Few people become leaders without the ability to move others to agree with their arguments. Rightly understood, rhetoric is only one of the tools of persuasion; the other two, logic and dialectic, are required to truly change peoples’ minds. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama awed the media and voters alike with his rhetorical skills. He continues to awe as he uses rhetorical manipulation to sell the stimulus package to the American public.

Legitimate rhetoric balances the skills of public speaking with sound logic and appeals to commonality with the audience on the issue at hand. It is an understatement to say that Barack Obama is skilled at using the language of his opponents to sell his ideas. During the 2009 campaign, he convinced a significant number of evangelicals that he was one of them. He convinced people of polar opposite points of view that he was on their side. Now, as the nation’s top snake oil salesman, he is “working the room” to sell his stimulus package — a package that experts agree will stimulate the Democratic constituency groups more than the economy.

The “snake oil” is especially obvious in his slick salesmanship as well as his shrewd manipulation of rhetoric.

Starting on Capitol Hill, he brought Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), the most gullible of the GOP senators, into the Oval Office to overwhelm them with his dialectic; he shrewdly played on his commonality with them on specific ideas and people they mutually admired. One at a time, he worked his charm by stroking each one at their vulnerable points, and all three caved. They undermined their party’s hope for leverage, stomped on the principle of checks and balances, and ended the need for any future attempts for genuine bipartisanship. They also gave Obama the cover he needed during his first major political crisis and gave momentum to a massive trillion dollar plan that could burden the nation for the foreseeable future!

Emboldened by his success with the Three Stooges of Capitol Hill, the president shrewdly staged his first prime-time presidential news conference using all the gravitas of the White House East Room as a backdrop. I say “shrewdly” because the president rearranged seating of the White House Press Corp to give deference to the left. The major network stars were seated behind Ed Schulz, a liberal radio talk show host (Note that this administration plans to push the “Fairness Doctrine”), and reporters from the black media outlets. He shrewdly gave international exposure to media most friendly to his administration. Al Jazeera, Essence, and the Saudi Press Agency were given seats. Sam Stein, a leftist blogger from the Huffington Post, was recognized for a question, thus getting international exposure. No wonder there were no follow-up questions or challenges to the president’s remarks. The mainstream media, whose worshipful coverage assured him the White House, couldn’t have liked the new arrangement, but apparently decided that the slight didn’t warrant legitimate grilling of the president during his first press conference.

Mr. Obama was also shrewd in his use of rhetorical devices that many consider demagogic and are, at a minimum, deceptive and misleading. For instance, he frequently used generalization and polarization:

• The stimulus bill would mean the difference between catastrophe and creating four million jobs

• Liberal Democrats just want to spend more money, but the GOP vetoes all progress

• Everything was the fault of the Bush administration, so Obama’s administration is facing “unprecedented” problems

• Everything the new administration is doing has never been done before

• Republican leaders are doing “nothing,” while his team is producing plans that will perform miracles

He conveyed a distortion of what the ancient rhetoricians called “ethos.” The ancient concept includes the image that is conveyed by the person trying to persuade. Obama almost never smiles, and during the press conference he projected, as usual, the image of self-control, maturity and deliberation. His suits are always impeccable, and his informal wear is “cool.” His demeanor projects a seriousness that is softened by his picture perfect family life. During the press conference, he seemed utterly sincere, honest and candid, while dishing out statements that could be thoroughly discounted by any first-year reporter pounding a beat. He skillfully turned to humor in order to disdain and dismiss the only penetrating question of the whole press conference. When Major Garrett of Fox News asked the president about Vice President Joe Biden’s comment regarding the administration having a 30 percent chance of failing on any given initiative, the president did not hesitate to make Biden the butt of his joke. The end result was to convey the impression that he is the savior of the nation, while everyone else, including his party and his vice president, stands as a barrier to progress.

For a man who promised bipartisanship by “working with the majority for change,” he makes ample use of what he claimed to despise, “the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for too long have strangled our politics.”

[relictele]

Obama is out of his depth - that much is obvious.

Unfortunately the very skills that brought him to the White House are of little use now. He and his handlers are like Robert Redford’s Bill McKay in ‘The Candidate’ asking ‘what do we do now?’

There is no opposite-party incumbent to portray as a bumbler or a mandarin (or both simultaneously as the left often attempted). There are no bused-in ‘adoring’ crowds to wow every day with pregnant pauses and shouty streeted-up catchphrases. Interestingly when Obama has needed an ego lift just a few weeks into the job he’s gone back to the rally rooms and the Henrietta Hugheses of the world.

[relictele]

It’s not the poster’s fault but Town Hall are really starting to annoy with their ‘look at me’ dancing baloney - popups etc.

Someone should be charged with excessive JavaScripting.

A print link is here:
http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=d5510871-1aa2-439a-b1ce-a4a6cd8203c2&t=c

[jwparkerjr]

Rhetoric though, IMHO, is in the ear of the beholder. I have never heard Obama say anything that impressed me. He just seems to string together platitudes, cliches and lots of impressive sounding words. Seriously, he talk and talks but never seems to say anything. There is a particular kind of listener who responds to his rhetoric and other than these specific listeners his words fall on deaf ears.

Same is true with Ronald Reagan. Few of those who are lulled into a sense of nirvana by Zero think the Gipper was a silly old fool.

It's not that a brilliant new speaker has burst upon the scene, but much more that the audience for Obama’s particular type of rhetoric has increased. Oldest trick in the book, make the box bigger but the contents less. Works with corn flakes, no reason to think it won't work with liberals.

[geologist]

after Obama won the election ... his true self is showing. He avoided any meaningful real issues during the campaign holding to generalities and innuendo of much better things to come. It worked.

He is a charismatic orator, has a viral appearance and a great smile. That PLUS millions and millions of dollars; and ACORN’s...made up voters, with a press corp. wildly enamored with his every word and action, and VOILAS! magic!

[SuziQ]

The problem this past election was that most of That One’s voters didn’t get past the rhetoric. They didn’t apply logic to what he was saying, but, instead, let their emotions dictate their actions. That was evident by the numbers of people who heard him speak, and were so carried away that they couldn’t even tell you what he said, only that he made them FEEL good.

[WVNan]

The O-boy is only the “mouthpiece” for president Soros. The false prophet for the anti-christ.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"Mr. Obama was also shrewd in his use of rhetorical devices that many consider demagogic and are, at a minimum, deceptive and misleading. For instance, he frequently used generalization and polarization: • The stimulus bill would mean the difference between catastrophe and creating four million jobs • Liberal Democrats just want to spend more money, but the GOP vetoes all progress • Everything was the fault of the Bush administration, so Obama’s administration is facing “unprecedented” problems • Everything the new administration is doing has never been done before • Republican leaders are doing “nothing,” while his team is producing plans that will perform miracles He conveyed a distortion of what the ancient rhetoricians called “ethos.” The ancient concept includes the image that is conveyed by the person trying to persuade.

He is used to lying to the uneducated and liberal idiots.