Rachel Coy 1st English 1010 10/23/13 Obama Rhetorically Convinces Are politicians liars? Maybe.

Its not always easy to tell. One thing we do know for sure is that politicians are very convincing. Whether or not you agree with politicians and their opinions, they are very good at conveying their message and persuading people. Steve Inskeep interviewed President Obama about the government shutdown, national debt problems and other national topics. President Obama used rhetorical appeals during the interview. I will argue that President Obama uses these logical, emotional and character-based appeals to convince American people and families that he is making the right decisions with our government. President Obama appeals to the American peoples sense of logic several times. When asked about the success of the Republican political party, President Obama declares that What we want is both parties to be able to have principled disagreements, to have very tough fights, but to make sure that the underlying stability of the country is maintained and that were not demonizing the other side (4). The Presidents response is an effective example of a logical appeal because it shows that he is thinking ahead, planning for the future and looking out for the whole of the people. Logically anyone that is planning ahead for the future must be doing the right thing.

The President appeals to his audiences sense of emotion multiple times. When asked about the national debt ceiling, President Obama states that The United States of America is no longer meeting its obligations and fulfilling the full faith and credit of the United States unless they get 100 percent of what they want then weve established a pattern that fundamentally changes the nature of our government (3). The Presidents response is an effective example of an emotional appeal because when he talks about the credit of the United States it makes the general population feel patriotic. Patriotism is an emotion that nearly all Americans feel and can relate to. President Obama makes the listener feel patriotic when he says, fundamentally changes the nature of our government (3). Most Americans will take pride in our government and wont want it to be changed, so the listener will support President Obama. President Obama also appeals to the American peoples sense of character and legitimacy many times throughout this interview. One of the best examples of the character-based appeal is when President Obama is asked about what the federal government is doing about the economy and its problems. President Obama proclaimed that We have dug ourselves out of a deep hole, and the economy now has grown. Weve created jobs for 42 consecutive months. Weve created 7.5 million new jobs (8). The Presidents response is an effective example of a character-based appeal because the statistics build up his own personal character, the government since he has been in charge and the government all together. These positive statistics are reassuring to the American people that the government is having a positive impact in at least some way. President Obama is associating these positive economic statistics with his own work, so it builds up his own credibility. In conclusion, President Obama uses multiple types of rhetorical appeals in his interview with Steve Inskeep in order to appeal to the American people. He uses logical appeals,

emotional appeals and multiple character-based appeals in his responses in order to get the audience to agree with him and his decisions involving the federal government shutdown, the upcoming debt ceiling fight and other issues the he has recently made decisions on.