Rhetorical Analysis of Barack Obama’s 2004 Dnc Keynote SpeechEssay title: Rhetorical Analysis of Barack Obama’s 2004 Dnc Keynote SpeechDuring his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama introduced himself as a skinny kid with a funny name. The rising star of Illinois politics was elected to the U.S. Senate three months later. His delivery, using rhetoric that soars and excites, was full of fiery sentiment that reminds us of what we love about the United States of America. His passionate speech inspired Americans to renew their faith in their country and pursue their individual dreams and yet still come together as one American family.
On July 29, 2004, Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. He was received by thousands of enthusiastic delegates, waving blue and white campaign signs and chanting his name. As the keynote speaker, Obama set the tone for the Democratic manifesto, outlining the principles of the party. His speech concerned the unnecessary and artificial divides in American politics and culture, emphasizing the importance of unity in our country, not just red states for Republicans and blue states for Democrats. Obama backs up this notion by saying “We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we dont like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, weve got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war, and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America”(5). He effectively uses the “Stars and Stripes” as a metaphor for our American flag.
The general theme of Barack Obama’s keynote address was the American Dream. He says “My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation”(2). He spoke of his international and interracial heritage as his father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas, and stressed the power of education in our society, noting his attendance at Harvard Law School in spite of his family’s financial hardship. He also criticized poor black youths in America who believe that reading a book is “acting white” (3). He exclaims as a proud American “In no other country on Earth is my story possible,” describing his successful career in politics and law and raising a family at the same time (2). Going along with his theme of the American Dream, Obama identified himself as “a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too”(5).
His speech was an extremely emotional and passionate oration that spoke to millions across the country. He spoke of national unity as one of the most important and unique characteristics of the United States, and how unity is one of the most important things that our country could have in 2004, in light of 9-11 and the war in Iraq. The portion in the speech in which he made the simple phrase “theres a United States of America” a rallying cry of unity and togetherness was simple and powerful. By stating that there is a United States of America he does not simply mean that there is a USA. He means that we are a united country, united as one as the United States of America. Obama’s rhetoric was deeply felt and was more resounding, dripping with patriotism: “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America” (5). He criticized the Iraq war, saying we should “never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect the world” (4). This statement reflects the Democrat’s ultimate goal: to earn the respect of the world. The criticism reflects his attitude on the war: we need more troops. It appeals to the opinion of the world but also with a confident yet offensive shade: The world should respect us, because when we confront an enemy we do it right.
Emotionally, the highest point of the speech was his statement that “We worship an awesome God in the Blue States” (5). By saying this he denied the notion that the Democrats are the secular party, and did it in unashamed language. Faith was a recurring theme throughout the speech, from near the very beginning when Obama said “a faith in simple dreams, the insistence on small miracles” (2). Notice how Obama uses the terms “simple” and “small,” utilizing pathos to connect with the “regular guy” of America, the blue collar worker. This is language that Democrats do not often use, and it makes the speech more accessible to many people and gives more support to other themes. Obama connected Democratic social programs with the one and only Golden Rule — to love our neighbors as ourselves. He declares “Its that fundamental belief — I am my brothers keeper, I am my sister’s
(2). However, it might not have been what he was looking for. As a political movement, Democratic social programs have never benefited or worked with our communities very well — in a country that has not embraced change-oriented political activity to date. As a nation, the Democratic party has been one of the more neglected social movements in the history of our country. This means that as Republicans, they tend to neglect social issues, such as poverty, in order to focus on their own party and party establishment.
Obama did not mention the Blue State or the Democratic Party by name. It was obvious for the following period, when he was speaking, that he was not speaking of the Blue State, but as the “nation of Christ.” As we know, blue states have been the setting for a large number of political campaigns and political conventions between the Democrats and Republicans in the past (4, 5). When it comes to American politics, the most important party in that political world is Republican or Democratic. While the Democratic Party, like other major political parties, has a diverse spectrum, this is often limited to just one party or party of a particular political party (4). In a country where the Democratic Party has a broad base of voters comprised of the most diverse demographic groups living in the United States, it is clear that its political vision is fundamentally different from other major parties. And, from that perspective, it should come as no surprise that blue states have long been a staple of American politics, as long as they had historically been Democratic states. As such, Obama did NOT mention the Blue State at all, and instead focused on Obama’s statement in The Art of the Deal: “We will not allow this kind of injustice to continue to infect the nation, but we will do everything we can to stop it. We will continue to build a strong military, but no country has a great way to restore order without a strong president, and with an army of soldiers ready to defend our country’s interests and borders.”
In conclusion, Obama repeated the same theme that Democrats have used throughout his speech; the blue states are a symbol of American power, and their people are in demand of the American people.
Democrats have been using blue states to their advantage to divide us up and divide America. It’s ironic that President Obama said that he would only send our military to one “blue state,” but he used these states to try and divide up the country (6). And Obama made the case that the Democrats failed to address the root cause for this country’s problems, and that they need to make it better, rather than just making it better. Barack Obama used the blue state to divide and divide American, to keep the Democrats in power during the Cold War, and to create a national political party — not a Democratic Party that was about breaking up the parties.
If Republicans have their way and not only have our nation’s problem as its top priority, but this problem has been exacerbated by how the GOP has been operating with regard to other issues like terrorism, foreign policy and national security, Obama did not mention a single one of these. The Democratic Party has always enjoyed support from blue state Republicans in particular — despite the fact that they never were particularly successful in trying to make the country better for the American people. But when it comes to other problems like inequality, these Democratic Party