Brandewie's Blog

Words from Senator McCain’s acceptance speech at Republican Nation Convention
"I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Sen. Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. "

Dissecting an acceptance speech is great way to learn about the many persuasive techniques of the English language. Many campaign workers spend countless hours crafting the perfect speech that can resonate with the majority. Needless to say, although these words said live in front of thousands of people, they are in no way the adlib thoughts of the politician. Each sentence is thought through and precisely placed in the speech for a reason. Politicians must convince thousands of people: why they are right, why they have all the answers for the future, and why they are better than the other candidate. Today, in my common place blog, we take a look at John McCain’s acceptance speech as the Republican nominee for President of 2008. This particular paragraph addresses the state of the Republican Party. Many argue that the party has taken a hit with the unsuccessful current term of President Bush and many scandals within their party. In the first sentence, McCain specifically addresses the concern that the Republican Party has lost pride and principles. However, cleverly he does not say anything losing pride and principles; rather he just mentions that he will fight to restore it. This language usage is almost a trick technique to distract from the percieved downfall of the Republican Party. The first sentence includes a strong verb, fight, when many other writers would have constructed the sentence to use fight as the noun. This was an excellent way to avoid a weak nominalization. In the second sentence he uses two words that help deliver an effective message: change and Washington. According to National Public Radio website, Polls have shown that more than two thirds of likely voters believe that America is heading in the wrong direction. Thus the word change is used to display that the nominee is not going to keep with the status quo. Also, the word Washington is cleverly used to exhibit that John McCain is not part of the current government that is viewed so poorly, even though he is a senator. Also throughout the speech McCain uses general phrase that evoke emotions such as, Dependence on foreign oil. Discussed in the Orwell essay, these phrases may not truly address an issue, rather bring out a emotion in the people that will bring them towards the politician’s camp. Below the first sentence will be restructured for another sentence that could be used for a political speech.
I volunteer to restore family and community in our city.