Obama's Climb to Presidency

Blog #4

     2008 was the year to the beginning of a Great Recession, but 2008 was also the year during a presidential election where Barack Obama was the first African-American to be elected. Although Obama won by a landslide and made history; it wasn't that easy for him during a majority of the election. He had many rumors and harsh comments against him that caused him to lose much of his credibility as a presidential candidate; rumors such as him being a terrorist, his name was similar to Osama Bin Laden, he was born in Kenya and he didn't wear an American flag pin. So Obama came up with a moving speech "A More Perfect Union" to help rebuild his credibility and show America why he is still the best choice as our next President.

    One of the main strategies Obama uses that makes his speech so moving and inspirational is his word choice using words like "our country", "our union", "we" and "us" to show that he is one of us and truly cares about the United States of America, especially to those who were hesitant to vote for him.  For example he says "I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our times unless resolve them together, unless perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we have common hopes" (121). This shows that Obama wants us to see that even though we all have different stories of where we come from we all have a common goal which is to build a better America. Obama is telling us that if we want to achieve that, we can't do it alone we have to work together as one nation. By using the words "we", "us" and "our nation" over and over emphasizes that Obama already sees us as one nation and wants the rest of us to see that we can all work together and make a more perfect union. 
      Another strategy that Obama uses to gain his credibility are his personal anecdotes of his life story and how he became the man he is today. He talks about how his father was a black man from Kenya and his mother was a white woman from Kansas; he was raised with the help of his white grandfather who served during WWII and a white grandmother who worked on the bomber assembly line. This is effective in building Obama's credibility because by telling us his own personal story he is showing Americans that even though they may say he's so different from everyone else; no matter the color of his skin or where he comes from, Obama is actually not that different from the rest of us.
      At the end of his speech Obama is able to appeal to the emotions of America when he says," This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag". By saying this Obama is telling us that we should have a nation where everyone works and fights together no matter the color of their skin or where they come from because in the end we are all American who stand under the same flag.
      Obama's speech did more than just help gain his credibility back it helped him win the presidential election (even for a second term) and the hearts of many voters where he soon become loved by many Americans.