Obama's State of the Union Rhetoric

Obama's State of the Union was a pivotal to the next two years of his presidency. He approached this speech to a newly elected congress, more of whom than ever being opposed to his policies. Knowing this, Obama came to the speech with a compromised air, determined to find common ground in Congress.

One of the primary themes of the speech revolved around Barack's new girlfriend, Rebekah Erler. Rebekah was introduced as the classic, middle-class American girl. With her sweet American charm and good looks, it was easy for her to win over the hearts and minds of the old, bitter Congressmen. Obama continued to rub her into the face of the audience throughout the speech, whenever he seemed to need a fall-back to common ground. Obama talks about how the plights of the recession forced Rebekah and her husband to seek new job opportunities and to move across the country. The story of this family's determination to make their American Dream come true, even through the hard times, serves as a model of the true American family.

Obama also uses this lucky gal to feed into his plan to provide Americans with two free years of community college. During the recession, Rebekah took out student loans so that she could go to school, and earn her place at a better job. It would've made Rebekah's experience much easier if she could have attended her first two years for free, and who doesn't want to help Rebekah?

With the help of Rebekah, Obama used moderate rhetoric to appeal to the idea of compromise in the conflicted Congress. By getting everyone on the same page with their universal love for the American Dream, Obama achieved this compromised tone. Now it is up to Congress to make these hopes for compromise a reality.