Bernie Burning Across America

This campaign ad, while has no words displays a very clear message to the American public. Bernie doesn't attack any other runners in the video which almost makes him seem higher up in a way.  Like Michelle Obama says, Hillary Clinton these days too, "When they go low, we go high." Which I thought was very interesting because all that both current candidates seem to be doing is attack the other on basically everything.

Bernie uses a very strong ethos approach in the ad. The scenes of all the citizens is very reminiscent to the scenes of an Obama ad. Displaying farmers, some sort of industrial workers, people in the suburbs, and crowds of supporters shouting Bernie's name with signs waiting to hear him speak. Bernie is greeting his supporters and speaking on his beliefs. Which really shows how much of a true person he is.

Election of Immigration

Immigration has been one of the driving problems in the presidential debates this year. The methods of dealing with immigration problems vary incredibly. Whether you are Donald Trump, with a very xenophobic policy, or Bernie Sanders, who has been shown to be very compassionate on the issue of immigration. With so many opposing views, it is important to know where each candidate is coming from.

Recent research suggest that about 15% of the United States population is comprised of immigrants. That is about a 10% increase since 1970. These are the kind of facts that have Donald Trump riled up. Trump doesn't want illegal immigrants to come to the US and be able to get jobs that other Americans could also be competing for, which is a valid fear, but his policies are too harsh. Trump wants to build a wall around the country and very strictly enforce border control, to decrease the number of immigrants from mexico. Trump also wants to restrict access from other countries too, mostly in Muslim countries. He sees recent terrorist activity as directly connected to the Muslim faith. This is a closed minded idea that seem xenophobic and offensive, but in an era with so much uneasy feelings, this is the kind of policy people seem to be flocking to.

On the other side of the immigration coin there stands Bernie Sanders. Sanders has very different policy ideas than Donald Trump. Sanders says that The United States are a country built by immigrants, and because of that they should be accepted. Sanders has constantly said that he is ready to give many people any and every opportunity to pursue a life in The United States. "Their story, my story, our story is a story of America: hard-working families coming to the United States to create a brighter future for their children," Sanders' motto for immigration. Sanders' policies will provide the county's already diverse culture to go further in the direction of full equality and acceptance.

These are just two of the views surrounding immigration, one of the most important topics of this election year.

Bernie and Hillary's Fallacies

In a recent debate in New Hampshire, Democratic nominees Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton exchanged some choice words regarding donations from interest groups. Sanders began by expressing frustration regarding how much influence large donations can have on campaigns. "If we do not get a handle on... the degree to which big money controls the political process in this country, nobody is gonna bring about the changes that are needed in this country for the middle class and working families," This statement immediately makes me think of the fallacy of hasty generalization, as it seems a bit presumptuous to say that there is no hope for the middle class with the current system.

Clinton's response, however, shows a much clearer fallacy. "There is this attack that [Sanders] is putting forth, which really comes down to, anybody who ever took donations or speaking fees from any interest group has to be bought!" Clinton claims. This is a clear example of the strawman fallacy. Instead of responding to Sanders' actual argument, which is the unhealthy influence of these large donations on politics, Clinton twists it into a crude generalization that demonizes all interest groups, which wasn't Sanders' point at all.

While these candidates make good points on both sides, it's important that they are as careful with their language as possible. Once campaigns start falling into these logical fallacies, the quality of discourse goes downhill rather quickly. Let's hope these are small errors on the part of these candidates, rather than long-term political patterns.

Sen. Sanders Strikes Back

Throughout the many months of Sen. Sanders and Sec. Clinton having divided opinions, this most recent Democratic Debate on Jan 17 was no different. In the very start of the debate, Clinton verbally attacks Sanders for his background with where he stands on gun violence and how she is appreciative he has changed his opinion. In his unprompted response to her attacks, Sanders statistics, multiple rhetorical questions, and specific diction to regain control and to rally support.

Although the moderator seems to have a different question for Sanders, he quickly responds to Clinton's accusations of his platform. Sanders starts off stating, “We have a broken justice system. Who in America is satisfied that we have more people in jail than any other country on Earth including China, disproportionately African American and Latino?” This question is pretty heavy-hearted, it begs the audience to consider the hard fact in which our country has such high incarceration of the minorities. He continues with a statistic, “51% of African American young people are either unemployed or underemployed. Who is satisfied that millions of people have police records for possessing marijuana when the CEOs of Wall St companies destroyed our economy have no police records?” Again his questions with the use of logos, invokes serious consideration in the audience. His words have significant weight in them and truly makes the audience consider and ponder how our system works. Finally, Sanders concludes with the use of words like “we”, “us”, and “our” to signify that it is our duty as citizens to unite to change our justice system. By using these words, he evokes the feeling of being unified and integrated. And that together, the citizens can do something about the injustice. All in all, Sanders knows how to use rhetoric to join the audience for his support.

Sanders' New Approach

Bernie Sanders is one of the prominent contenders for the Democratic Party's nomination of the 2016 presidential election. Sanders gains his support through emphasizing and expanding his skills of rhetorical strategies. In the most recent Democratic debate, Sanders took a more aggressive attitude towards his opponents, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley, ultimately allowing him to receive the final 'win'(as according to most viewers and internet users) before the first primary election in Iowa. Throughout the debate, Sanders contentiously establishes his ethos and pathos to draw more voters and convince Americans that he is best suited to be the next president of the United States.

In the beginning of the debate, Sanders uses ethos when he forcefully depends his viewpoints on presented issues. When moderator asks Sanders about his controversial split-viewpoint on gun control, Sanders fires back with a clearer point of direction. Sanders expresses that "as a senator from a rural state with virtually no gun control" he is the position to make American feel united about this issue. Sanders explains how he knows from experience that he will succeed in making Americans unified on gun control. Additionally, Sanders also speaks of the time of when he was a congressman in Vermont in 1988. He continually uses vehement words such as "stood up," "came out," and "maintained the position" to establish his trustworthy character towards the audience. Sanders also asserts his views are legitimate, due to his previous experience in such gun legislation. He attacks the issue with background and strong emotion to rigorously establish his views. Ethos prevails as one of the dominant forms of rhetoric Sanders uses to capture his audience. 

Furthermore, Sanders creates strong pathos when expressing his future plans for America.  When discussing his top priorities if elected president, Sanders determines he stands for universal healthcare, increased minimum wage, and more employment opportunities. He frequently asserts phrases such as "I'll bring America together," and "[I'll] have a government that works for all of us!" enthusiastically to convey to his audience that he is active and will respond to the needs of his voters. Sanders pulls emotion from stating powerful words to convince his audience he will make a better America. Additionally, Sanders claims that this campaign is a "political revolution!" Sanders declares such powerful and possibly radical terms in effort to demonstrate his positive and beneficial differences from the other candidates. Conveying such terms allows the supporters to rally behind Sanders and to see him have his motivation for a cause he is passionate about. From these examples, pathos is a eminent element Sanders establishes to win over voters. 

Feel The Bern From The Cold, Hard Facts

In the recent Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders butted heads over a variety of topics. All politicians have special techniques they use to sway the voters their way. In particular Bernie Sanders love sticking to the cold hard facts. Bernie Sanders employs logos to show voters how he will improve America and convince them to vote for him.           

Bernie Sanders uses key facts to show voters how his policies will positively impact them. Last Sunday at the Democratic debate, Sanders and Clinton argued over health care. Sanders said, “29 million people still don’t have health care.” This kind of information is used to shock listeners. Sanders followed up this astonishing fact by saying he will “lower health care by 5,000 dollars for middle class families.” A majority of voters are part of the middle class. Hearing that Sanders can save them 5,000 dollars on health care grabs their attention and encourages them to vote for him. While Sanders tells voters he can save them money, he also reminds them that they are spending far more money than other countries when it comes to healthcare. Sanders says, “Tell me why we are spending almost three times more than the British, who guarantee health care to all of their people, 50% more than the French, [50%] more than the Canadians.” Sanders intends to bring the cost of healthcare down for middle class families. By showing how much cheaper health care is in other countries, Sanders hopes to show voters that he can close that gap and bring the United States to the same level as these other countries. Throughout the entire campaign, Sanders has been very logos centered and has used facts to support his arguments and appeal to the American voters. 

The Classic Ethos Apeal: The Middle Class

Bernie Sanders, like many politicians, has strong feelings about the middle class. He knows that gearing his argument towards the middle class will give him more votes in the end than the wealthy 1%. Sanders says that congress is focusing on the interests of the billionaires in America and not the lower classes. Sander says what the "political revolution is about is bringing people together to finally say enough is enough, this government belongs to us not just the billionaires." Sanders strongly emphasizes the interest's of the middle class and the degradation of congressional values. Instead of looking out for the good of the country, Sanders says congress focuses too much on the wealthy. By aligning himself with the middle class, Sanders has a good stake in the middle classes' vote.

Sanders' Sarcasm

Sanders continues to support the middle class by restating his opinion that minimum wage should be raised to $15 per hour. And in concluding his one minute to discuss it, he states "And I'm sorry to no one". This sarcastic joke raises laughs and applause to his platform.

Sanders For the People

Bernie Sanders addresses the maldistribution of wealth in America. He states that the wealthy should be taxed heavier than those in the crumbling middle class. He continues to support his point by sharing the inequality in paying taxes between two people of complete opposite ends of the wealth spectrum. This shows that Sanders is for the people, the middle class.

Politician's Best Friends: Ethos and Logos

During the 2016 presidential debate there was a common theme between each of the candidates intros; they all established their ethos. It is imperative that politicians establish their ethos right off the bat. A politician’s first impression on the voters depends heavily on whether the politician is qualified for presidency or not. Governor Chafee was the first democrat to give his introduction. He started off by saying; “I'm the only one running for president that has been a mayor, a United States senator, and a governor.” He asserted himself as the most experienced. He then proceeded to go through his experiences as mayor, senator and governor and explain each of his accomplishments. From voting against Bush-Cheney tax cuts and the Iraq war to flaunting his pride of being scandal-free, Chafee has accomplished a lot. His accomplishments make him qualified to become president. Then Senator Webb had his turn to introduce himself. He established his ethos with the audience through his previous jobs of being an author, a journalist and a sole proprietor. He connects with the audience on the premise that he has not always been a politician. He then expressed his qualifications through his career with the military. Not only is he a Vietnam veteran but he also served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. Just like Chafee, he proclaimed his qualifications for president through an ethos-based approach. Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton all had similar introductions. They all stated their achievements and followed up with a quick preview of their policies.

Senator Bernie Sanders loves his statistics. During many of the times Sanders spoke, he used a logos approach to either express a problem in America or back up his argument. For example, he first states “America has more people in jail than any other country on Earth.” He then connected this issue to a problem with employment within minority youths. In his intro he quoted a statistic about African-American and Hispanic youth unemployment. Fifty-two percent of African-American youths are unemployed and thirty-six percent of Hispanic youths are unemployed. Instead of building more jails, he suggested putting more money into education and jobs for kids. Later in the debate he stated, “Republicans win when there is a low voter turnout.” He backed this statement up by saying “Sixty-three percent of the American people didn't vote, eighty percent of young people didn't vote.” Sanders’ usage of statistics and factual evidence support his arguments and make them more believable and more effective. It is essential for politicians to have effective arguments. Using good rhetoric strategies and having a good argument allows for politicians to sway voters to vote for them.

Black Lives Matter; Bernie's Appeal to Pathos

#BernieSanders displays an appeal to pathos during Democratic debate when asked the question: "Do all lives matter or do black lives matter?". "Black lives matter," was his response. Bernie appeals to emotion when he uses words like "us" and "we" and "our nation" because it sets a tone of unity. He also appeals to pathos, especially those of black people, by recognizing we need "major reforms in our corrupt criminal system" because of the killings of innocent black lives.

Clinton Calls Out Sanders

Hilary Clinton explicitly calls out Bernie Sanders during the Democratic Debate saying he is not tough enough on guns. She backs this evidence up with facts about what bills Sanders as a Senator did and did not vote for.

Bernie's #InOurCorner

Bernie Sanders established that he stands with Planned Parenthood, stating that he wants paid leave for women and families. In depth, he wants to provide access to safe and legal abortion, expand access to birth control, and overall supports PP. By supporting Planned Parenthood, Sanders sets himself apart from the Republican candidates.

Bernie Sanders: Facts on Facts on Facts

When asked how a socialist candidate like himself could win a general election in the US, Bernie Sanders responded in the best way possible. Instead of tiptoeing around the question only to find that he hadn't actually answered the question at all, Sanders got straight to the point and used logos to back up his argument. Sanders explained to the audience what a Socialist Democrat actually is, and used examples of what Socialist Democrats actually want (such as equal distribution of wealth) to get the audience on his side. This technique was simple yet effective, as Sanders made the audience believe what he was saying in an easily understood way.

Bernie's Pathos

Whatever Bernie is saying, anger is what is propelling his argument. He's all about his tone.

Bring On the Democrats!

Are you ready to .... live blog?!?

Watch the debate on CNN or stream it live on cnn.com.

Remember, in our live blogging format, post shorter, more frequent analyses highlighting individual rhetorical moments. How and how well are the candidates making their cases?

Bernie Sanders: The Change We Need

Bernie Sanders’ decision to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president has shaken up the status quo. Until his announcement, the 2016 election looked like it was going to be “more of the same”-- possibly even another Clinton vs. another Bush. Long accustomed to voting “none of the above,” many Americans have responded enthusiastically to Bernie’s campaign.

Americans are given few opportunities to express themselves politically. This is why people’s interest in politics seems to rise during election season. In the “desert” that is contemporary American politics, Sanders’ call for “Scandinavian-style socialism,” his protesting against the “billionaire class,” and his call for a “political revolution” naturally resonate with millions of people. He is boldly raising ideas and words that have not been part of the mainstream political discussion for decades.

The crisis of American capitalism continues to unfold, leading to greater hardship for workers and youth. Cuts and austerity for the majority of people and unimaginable wealth for the minority is the new normality-- and anger is building in response to this  inequality. People are sick and tired of the status quo, and the general population is shifting to the left. However, there is no mass political party through which to express this radicalization. This is where Bernie Sanders steps in.

Sanders understands and has been able to connect with the rising unhappiness. He uses logos in his announcement for candidacy when explaining the unequal distribution of wealth in America, and appeals to the audience’s pathos by empathizing with them about the long hours and low wages that are reality for the majority of Americans. He discusses these issues on Face the Nation, “There is, in my view, massive dissatisfaction in this country today with the corporate establishment and the greed of corporate America and the incredible unequal distribution of wealth and income which currently exists . . . when you have 99% of all new income generated today going to the top one percent, when you have the top one-tenth of one percent owning almost as much income as the bottom ninety percent, people working longer hours for low wages, and all of the money is going to people on the top—you know what, people don’t think that’s a good idea.”

An increasing amount of Americans agree with this statement. According to a Gallup Poll, 67% of Americans are dissatisfied with income and wealth distribution. Sanders’ ideas sit well with the majority of the population, and even the word “socialism” is being used more frequently in mainstream media. Instead of shying away from it, Sanders boldly defends his version of “socialism.” He has successfully  legitimized the idea of “socialism” in a way not seen in decades. So far, Sanders’ empathetic, refreshing, blunt, and bold outlook on political issues has gained him the support of many Americans. #FeelTheBern

#FeelTheBern

Due to the media covering the eccentricities of Trump non-stop throughout the 2016 presidential race, people have failed to notice the brilliance of Bernie Sanders' campaign. Every politician struggles with appealing to the youth of America, and politicians do not exclusively focus on this group of voters because they are typically the least involved in politics. However, Sanders has amazingly gathered a huge cult following of young people all over the internet. This fact leads one to ask the important question: how did one of the oldest candidates manage to appeal to the young voters in this election?

One of Sanders' biggest proposals is that of free public college education which would allow students to have better economic and intellectual opportunities after they graduate. College tuition has skyrocketed in the past few years; instead of exploring the best college for intellectual interests, many students are forced to choose colleges based on what they or their families can afford. The younger generation cannot help but be attracted to Sanders' conviction of changing the cycle of over-priced tuition and endless student loans.

Besides his campaigning points, Bernie Sanders is able to attract young voters because of everything he represents as a politician. Republicans and less radical Democrats may disagree, but Sanders offers a fresh face to politics (even at an age of 74). His entire campaign is centered around him "taking back politics" from the billionaires who can usurp the democratic system. Additionally, he encompasses egalitarian values with his support of the LGBTQ+ community and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. Instead of using pathos to say "the United States is great because of what we achieved in the past and where we are now," he says "the United States is great because of our hope of change in the future."

The #FeelTheBern campaign will only continue to grow, and his rival candidates should soon realize that the young voters of America are a voter base that should not be ignored in 2016.

Bernie Sanders Appeals to American People

Throughout one of Bernie Sanders' political campaigns of 2016, "Progress", he elaborately lists his objectives to rebuild America if he were elected into office. His main points include: free college tuition with drastically lower interest rates on student loans, universal health care for all, equal pay for women, and to raise minimum wage. To enhance his arguments, Sanders most prominently uses the rhetoric technique of ethos, the appeal to ethics/character.

In the beginning of his campaign ad, Sanders narrates the story of his parents and his childhood living in the lower class, which validates his understanding to the struggles many American people face daily. His use of ethos supports his appeal to the middle and lower classes and his goal of increasing minimum wage.

In addition, Sanders also uses ethos to establish his view on equality for all people. He describes a time when he was at University of Chicago, getting involved in the civil rights movement where he demonstrated sit-ins because he purely believed in equal rights which is one of his platforms in his political campaign today.

Sanders also translates his hopes for his family to the American people with his aim to fight global climate change, exhibiting ethos. He uses the claim of keeping our globe habitable for future generations, but also "leaving them with a nation we are proud of".

Although Sanders utilizes other rhetoric techniques, ethos was especially evident. By using ethos, he successfully related to the American people.