Exploring the Rhetorical Effectiveness of Ann Romney and Michelle Obama's speeches (9/6/2012)

Ann Romney and Michelle Obama are both the wives of the two political candidates running for office in November 2012. After watching the two women's speeches, I can see the difference in beliefs between the two women, as well as their husbands. For example, the liberal nature of Michelle Obama appealed to the democrats in which she aimed to please, and the conservative nature of Ann Romney's speaking did the same for her, and her following party. Though the speeches had their differences, in beliefs, and the women's speaking styles especially, the two speeches had many similarities. For example, the rhetoric used in either of the speeches was very similar. Both of them lacked ethos and logos, but excelled in pathos with things being said like "God bless!" on both of the women's speeches.  Both Ann and Michelle tried to appeal to the audience's religion, as well as their common place level in society by retelling their life stories in a way that any person could relate to. Ann had her story about dating and falling in love with Mitt, both being poor and such. Michelle had, essentially, the same story to tell but with different little details here and there, regarding her and Barack. Both speeches were very rhetorically effective, even with their lack of logos and ethos. The heart-string tugging stories and phrases caused feelings toward each candidate's wife to occur. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to remain unbiased when watching these women speak. My own political learnings definitely swayed my thoughts on both of the women. For example, I disliked Ann's speech, and I felt the same way about Michelle's. I was not very impressed by both, largely in part due to the fact I don't care about the future president's personal life. Although I had my own personal beliefs, it was very evident in the way the crowd reacted to what had been said that they felt for both the candidates. The uproars of applause at Michelle's mentioning of equal rights for homosexuals was something to be amazed at, and the joy that people seemingly had found when listening to Ann was incredible. Their modest pasts and their elegance was spectacular, and both of these women had well thought out speeches.