McCain's Ineffective Fight

“I don't mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I've had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test,” said Senator John McCain during a Republican convention speech. McCain exclaims that he is fighting for America and Americans. However, McCain does not explain what his objectives and intentions for Americans are. Because of this, McCain’s speech is redundant and vague. Without a thorough explanation of what his goals and aims for the nation are, McCain’s convention speech is rhetorically ineffective due to the lack of information and support of his arguments. McCain sets the grounds for hope and change but does not effectively explain what is expected in the future if he is elected as president of the United States.

During his convention speech, McCain repeatedly talks about change. He said “We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us…We're going to change that. We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics,” yet does not explain what those values are. Throughout his speech, McCain mentions changes that he will make, such as tax cuts and creating new jobs, yet the result of these changes are a mystery. He merely states a goal he has in on his agenda but does not completely explain the results or differences they will make for the country if he were to take office. McCain says, “We're going to help workers who've lost a job that won't come back, find a new one that won't go away.” Here, McCain does not say how he will replace these jobs or the step he will take to ensure the citizens of the U.S. that their jobs will not be taken away. In comparison to Barack Obama’s speech, McCain’s is rhetorically weaker due to the lack of explanations necessary to prove his points and goals. He leaves the listener wondering what will happen if he were take office.

In response to claims and goals set by Barack Obama, John McCain’s rebuttals were weak and did not prove his point. “I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.” Here, McCain makes a weak attempt to compare his economical goals for the United States to Obama’s. He does not clearly explain the positive effects of his economical plans, nor does he explain the negative effects of Obama’s goals. It would have been in McCain’s best interest to take the initiative and tell the public the positive effects of his economical plan, yet he does not. Also, McCain should have pointed out negative aspects of Obama’s economical plan, but only points out very general responses. This part of McCain’s speech is rhetorically ineffective because of his weak attempts to compare his economical plans with Barack Obama’s without explaining how his are better and why Obama’s would cause problems for the United States.

Throughout his speech, McCain makes promises that are not explained. He continually repeats his statements about fighting for Americans, but fighting is not enough. McCain appears to be more concerned with gaining his voters’ trust by expressing his love for the country than actually explaining why the United States will be a better country under his presidency. Because of this, his strategies to gaining trust is rhetorically ineffective because of his unexplained goals and promises. He ends his speech by saying “Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here…” which only encourage voters to make a change to the U.S. but does not give a clear picture of how the U.S. will change in the next four years if he were elected as president.