This is the Election of a Lifetime

When they occurred a few weeks ago I watched both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.  After being armed with the idea of notemaking and close-reading I re-watching certain speeches like those of Clint Eastwood and Scarlett Johansson and realized I hadn't obtained all the possible information.  I laughed and cheered when I was supposed to but was reminded that it wasn't until halfway through Eastwood’s monologue that I realized he wasn't being senile but talking to an invisible Obama.  So I decided to go back and examine some of my favorite and least favorite speeches.  The speaker I finally landed on was Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts.  His speech “This is the Election of a Lifetime” focused mostly on current democratic ideals and on the potentially great or horrible future waiting for Americans. He also spoke on both Obama and Romney’s past experiences in leading government.

The speech was filmed by PBS (along with many other news stations) but given by Patrick.  Due to his job as governor he is qualified to speak on politics and as governor of Massachusetts he is qualified to speak on Mitt Romney.  Deval had many purposes to his speech.  One was to rally the democrats at the DNC and get them excited about President Obama.  Another reason for the speech was to reach the viewers at home; the everyday people who might not keep up so ardently with politics, and inform them who their options were.  Deval wanted to make people feel that not only is Mitt Romney a poor choice for president but that Obama is a great one.

Deval was in the ideal setting to deliver a speech that advocated gay marriage, being pro-choice, and other liberal ideals.  Tha crowd was already amped up and by the end he had them on their feet, cheering and believing that Obama was the best chance for their future.  Had he been speaking to Republicans he would have most likely been received poorly for that exact speech.  The Massachusetts governor had four different audiences for his speech at the DNC.  The first being the democrats present at the convention that he was merely working to motivate.  His second audience was the people at home who weren't sure who they were voting for who he attempted to sway towards Obama.  He intended for his third audience, Republicans who are voting for Romney to educate them on the hopes of the Obama administration and Mitt Romney’s track record.  The fourth and final audience—American citizens indifferent to the election—were meant to understand how crucial this election is and who their best chance for a better future was.

As with most public speakers Deval utilized rhetoric to persuade people to agree with his point which in this case that yes, Obama is our best chance.  An example in which he used rhetoric was pointing out the republican stance on education.  They say that the children are the future but many of their policies would leave those who weren't fortunate enough financially behind.    “Today’s republicans…and their nominee for president tell us that those first graders are on their own.  On their own to deal with their poverty…With an underfunded school …with no access to nutritious food…With a job market that needs skills that they don’t have, with no way to pay for college.  But those Orchard Garden’s kids should not be left alone.  Those children are American’s children too!  Yours and mine.”  This quote uses rhetoric to sway readers to feel and think many things.  It makes you feel for the unfortunate and their plight for success.  From that worry the idea would sprout  to vote for a president that would help those children.  In Deval's opinion, that president would be Barack Obama.  The quote also pulls on the heartstrings of Americans.  It appeals to the softer side of people that makes them protective of their family.  By telling his viewers that all of America's children are their children he makes each parent want to protect the futures of those children just like they would their own.  Another instance of rhetoric would be when Patrick said, “And we believe that government has a role to play—not in solving every problem in everybody’s life—but in helping people help themselves to the American dream.  That’s what democrats believe.  That’s what America believes…We’re Americans.  We shape our own future.”  This particular except focuses on patriotism.  Every person living in America right now is struggling towards the American dream and by associating the president with patriotism (not a difficult feat) he creates the idea that the patriotic thing to do, the right thing to do, is to vote for Obama.

I think Deval succeeded in his aims for three reasons.  One, his speech stuck in my head and it his words and those of others at the DNC that would cause me to vote for Obama if I had the chance.  Two, he did reach his democratic listeners both at the convention and at home and assure them that a vote for Obama was essentially a vote for their own happiness.  And third, unlike other speeches like Eastwood's or the words of others celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Deval could not be criticized for rambling at any empty chair or for talking about a topic he was not authorized to speak on.