An Analysis Of Obama's Presidential Campaign Speeches From The Perspective Of Western Rhetoric

The fact that rhetoric is closely interconnected with the western political life is embodied vividly in the saying that "Rhetoric holds the key to political offices." The art of rhetoric is typically brought into its full and prominent play in the campaign speeches of American presidential election held every four years. To some extent, the running for the presidency has already turned into a rhetorical contention, with each nominee playing the lead role.Adopting the perspective of western rhetoric, this paper starts the discussion by defining key terms of rhetoric and identifying the close relationships among rhetoric, speechmaking and power. It then focuses on how Obama made full use of rhetorical strategies to overcome the incredible odds against his candidacy and even to turn unfavorable conditions into favorable ones during his election campaign. By analyzing some of his key speeches throughout the campaign, we show how Obama's election marked yet another triumph of rhetoric over conventional thinking in politics. This analysis is followed by a case study, based in particular on the Burkean theories of "Dramatic Pentad" and "Identification," of Obama's speech "Apostolic Church of God." With our evaluation of Obama's performance in 2008 American election, we mean to call attention to the persuasive essence of political rhetoric.