"Yes, we can" http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/obama.transcript/index.html

Having read the MLK letter and listened to the recruiters in class, I can easily say that MLK had a strong grasp on what was required in a persuasive essay, and the recruiters...not so much. His appeal to ethos, logos and pathos was evident throughout the letter. What amazes me most is that he wrote it in jail without any kind of reference material when I can't even write a one page paper without my microsoft word thesaurus. The recruiters were not able to persuade our class while MLK was able to persuade a huge percentage of our nation.
With the 2008 election approaching, I thought it appropriate to use one of the campaign speeches as my third piece of persuasive writing. As a democrat, I am having a tough time deciding between Obama and Clinton since there are things I like about both of them. After having heard Obama's speech at Clemson, however, I may be leaning his way. The speech he gave after winning South Carolina was very similar so I have included the link to it. Obama's greatest strenght in this race is his appeal to pathos or emotion of the audience. Hope is something he talks about extensively and to a young person like me that has not had enough years to be jaded and cynical about our government, hope is something I can believe in. He also appeals to young people for the specific reason that the other campaigns are telling us not to vote for him - inexperience. He talked about this a little more in his speech at Clemson jokingly saying that his competitors wanted him to cook and stew a little longer until all the hope was sucked out of him. I think, we college students can relate to being told we're too young or too inexperienced for something and knowing for ourselves that that's not true. Appeal of the speaker or ethos is extremely important in an election. Through the entire process, competitors are digging up anything they can on you and it is all to reduce your credibility. In Obama's speech he cites things he has done in the past for this nation in order to ensure his credibility. And finally, his appeal to logic or logos is evident when he cites the things that are wrong with this country and and the fact that he can change them. Change is his platform and I consider this an appeal to emotion and logic. It is obvious that the past administration has let America slip economically and fall short in the eyes of other nations, so it is logical that a new and very different one is what we need and who is more different from George W. Bush than Barack Obama? Anyway, I hope everyone is getting involved in this election and will be watching Super Tuesday/My 22nd birthday!