Final Presidential Debate

For this weeks post I chose the debate question asking if the Federal Government should play a bigger role in education. Senator McCain is the first to speak, right away McCain uses pathos, he speaks directly to Senator Obama and says in a tone that is somewhat inflammatory, asking if he is aware of the program in the Washington D.C. school system. Not only in his words but also in his body language he uses pathos, by the way he makes sharp gestures towards Senator Obama, this gives a feel of aggression. When Senator McCain speaks about vouchers he uses logos, speaking about how vouchers were used in the Washington D.C. school system. In the same statement he once again employs pathos by stating that he was surprised that Senator Obama didn’t pay attention to that example. When Senator McCain mentions autism, he is appealing to pathos, because we all have an emotional reaction to this word. He uses it saying that “Sarah Palin knows about that, better than most,” this makes the audience really listen to him, because in using pathos he relates to the audience and also relates Sarah Palin to the audience. McCain uses ethos by stating that “I think the Head Start program is a good program,” he states his own opinions giving the audience a taste of his character. In saying this he also is persuading the audience to adopt his view and opinion of Head Start.

When Senator Obama begins talking at about 2:45, he uses pathos, as does McCain, when they are talking about what the Superintendent of D.C. supports, charters or vouchers. They almost get into a little spat, using inflammatory language. Obama uses logos saying that “data doesn’t show that vouchers solve the problem,” this use of facts appeals to the audience as well, because it also appeals to ethos. This use of facts makes the audience acknowledge Obama as knowing facts and other data about education. Senator Obama appeals to the audience’s emotions using pathos, when talking about how McCain is leaving people in all other fifty states, outside of the D.C. area, without an education reform policy.

The order in which the candidates speak affect how the audience perceives them. Since McCain speaks first it can be said that he has an advantage to be the first to touch on the topics that he wants to without having to worry about defending his position on them. In the same sense it could be said that Obama has the advantage because he gets the last word in. Either way each candidate must have solid points to drive them home or to make sure that they can not be contradicted. This being the final debate, I think that the audience will be more perceptive to what each of the candidates has to say before making their final choice in who they will vote for. The number of viewers will increase as well in my opinion, for the same reason. I think that the audience will be very judgmental of the candidates and just how they appeal to the audience will make a big difference in who is elected.