BARACK OBAMA'S IOWA CAUCUSES RHETORIC
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BARACK OBAMA’S IOWA CAUCUSES RHETORIC
Samuel Gunawan
Universitas Kristen Petra
Abstract: This paper is to explore the depth of Barac Obama’s rhetoric in his Iowa
Caucuses Speech: “Our Time for Change has Come”. Obama displayed his
outstanding rhetorical craftmanship to drive irresistibly his power of persuasion in
the earliest Democratic Caucuses in the whitest state of Iowa that gave him a
victory; thus the speech underscored the ground-breaking messages to the rest of the
nation that America was ripe for an African-American President.
Keywords: Obama’s Iowa rhetoric, Obama’s power of persuasion, Obama’s
ground-breaking messages
Abstrak: Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi retorika Barack Obama
dalam pidatonya di Caucuses, Iowa dengan judul “ Our Time for Change has
Come”. Pidatonya menunjukkan keahliannya dalam mengolah keahlian
persuasinya dalam pidato-pidatonya sebagai penanda awalnya Demokrasi
Kaukusian di salah satu negara dengan dominasi kaum kulit putih yang
dibuktikan dengan kemenangannya. Hal ini bisa dibilang bahwa pidatonya
membawa pesan kepada negara bahwa Amerika sudah siap dengan president
dengan kulit berwarna
Kata-kata Kunci:retorika Obama, kekuatan persuasi Obama, pesan tersirat
Obama
In his Iowa caucuses speech, Barack tyranny of oil, ends the war, restores
Obama uses the introductory clause “You American moral standing, and fights
said the time has come” three times to drive against the common threats of the 21st
home his important points that his campaign century.
is gaining momentum. He irresistibly en- Obama illustrates his victory repeating
forces his better prospect on ground that a the introductory clauses “this was the
coalition for change is building up through- moment” five times to highlight that he and
out the country. Simultaneously, he uses the his supporters are beginning to beat
occasion to remind the people of New Washington ways, tear down barriers, and
Hampshire that will become his voters in prompt more people to become voters.
the next leg of his campaign trail, if and if Obama also repeats as many as ten times his
only they give him the same chance as the philosophy of hope that serves to be a
people of Iowa did, he will be the president driving force for his campaign and the
for America who makes affordable health motivating force for him to run for the U.S.
care available, frees American from the President. He splendidly brings his persua-
134135 | BAHASA DAN SENI, Tahun 39, Nomor 2, Agustus 2011
sion to the personal level by using an Victory Speech “Our Time for Change has
anecdote of his own life as a personalized Come”.
down-to-earth illustration of the American The videotape of the actual delivery of
dream that could only be found in America. Barack Obama’s Iowa Caucuses Victory
From there he points out that hope also Speech was analyzed using the rhetorical
becomes the “bedrock” of the nation and the triangle (Hesford & Brueggemann, 2007: 2-
force to “remake” the world they live in.On 5) in order to be able to grasp his power of
account of those eloquent delivery of persuasion. Rhetoric as the art of persuasion
Barack Obama’s persuasion, this paper is is understood and presented as a triangular
to focus on Barack Obama’s power of act of communication consisting of three
rhetoric as vested in his Iowa Caucuses interrelated elements such as rhetor, text,
and audience as illustrated as follows
:
Rhetor (Author, Speaker, Artist)
Text Audience (Reader,
(Oral, Written, Visual) Listener, (Viewer)
Figure 1 The Rhetorical Triangle (Hesford & Brueggemann, 2007: 2-5)
Rhetor is the person who originates The people who become the target of the
and/or produces the communication act of communication act of persuasion.
persuasion, be it verbal (spoken or written) Furthermore, Hesford & Brueggemann
or visual, to convey a subject matter. (2007: 5-7) argue that in analyzing a text for
According to Aristotle (in Hesford & its meaning, the first step to do will be to
Brueggemann, 2007: 5), a rhetor has three read the concerned text rhetorically in the
different ways of persuading others, i.e: (a) light of the rhetorical triangle as displayed.
using his or her own character (ethos), (b) Then they also argue that the second step in
appealing to audience’s emotions (pathos), reading a text rhetorically will be to take
and (c) appealing to reason and logic into account how particular contexts
(logos).Thus, to understand the rhetorical (historical, cultural, political, and other
element “rhetor”, one must consider his or environments) may affect each element of
her character. And in order to consider the the rhetorical triangle.
rhetor’s point of view, one must take into As the object of investigation of this
account how the rhetor approaches his or paper was focused on how Barack
her subject as well as how the rhetor Obama’s rhetorical power of persuasion
addresses or imagines his or her audience. was realized in the real delivery of his Iowa
Text is the communication act of persua- Caucuses Speech, the research was
sion, be it verbal (spoken or written) or therefore focused onthe video of the speech
visual, being communicated between rhetor as a text in the light of the rhetorical triangle
and audience (= Reader, Listener, Viewer). and its rhetorical contexts as described by
Hesford and Brueggemann (2007).Gunawan, Barack Obama’s Iowa Caucuses Rhetoric| 136
Unlike written presentation that is forms of words, phrases, clauses or
designed to present something for the eyes, sentences (Dornyei, 2007: 38, 243;
oral presentation is designed for the ears. Creswell, 2003: 182,184), by means of
The later follows the principles of orality which this research paper attempted to
and choices of stylistic resource that identify and intepret Obama’s rhetoric in his
highlight the very nature of speech as oral Iowa Caucuses Speech entitled “Our Time
presentation, i.e. something to be delivered for Change has Come”.The data for this
for the ear (Zarefsky, 2005: 274 - 293). study were derived from the video of
Since listeners are more dependent on the Obama’s Iowa Victory Speech (Obama, B.
speaker, the speaker must make his or her 2008, January 3).
presentation as easy as possible for listeners
to follow and remember. Following DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
Zarefsky’s ideas of achieving style through The First Step of the Rhetorical Reading
language, a selected list of some of the of the Actual Delivery of Obama's Iowa
principles of orality and choices of stylistic CaucusesSpeech: “Our Time for Change
resource is used to back up the inquiry into has Come”
the element of text in the rhetorical triangle The Rhetor
as follows: The following are some deliberate acts
1. Simplicity; The speaker uses simple of persuasion employed by Obama as the
structures and more common words. rhetor by using his character, appealing to
2. Repetition;The speaker repeats key ideas his audience’s emotions, and appealing to
for emphasis. his audience’s reason and logic.
3. Informality; The speaker uses less formal
language than otherwise in written Using His Own Character(Ethos)
presentation. Using some aspects of his character,
4. Reflexivity; The speaker often refers to Obama asserted his power of persuasion.
himself or herself, to the audience and a) A Character Imbued with Optimism to
situation. Do Great Things
5. Clarity; The speaker speaks as clearly as Obamaresonated the strength of his
possible to the audience using more spirit of optimism to do great things. He
concretewords and short statements was adoring the great achievement of his
familiar to the audience to describe an supporters to do great things in Iowa.
idea or situation.
You know, they said ... they said ... they
6. Rhythm; The speaker uses repetition of said this day would never come. They
key idea or argument to hold the said our sights were set too high. They
audience to have the feel of the ideas said this country was too divided, too
being presented so as to make them disillusioned to ever come together
more involved in the speech situation. around a common purpose. But on this
7. Vividness; The speaker makes the speech January night, at this defining moment in
easier to digest in the mind’s eye of the history, you have done what the cynics
audience. said we couldn’t do (audience cheer and
applause). ... . You have done what
America can do in this new year,
METHOD 2008(audience cheer and applause).
The approach used in this paper was (Video: 00:01-02.15)
qualitative method of inquiry that deals with In the concluding part of the speech,
the non-numerical linguistic units in the Obama spoke agitatedly to the point to137 | BAHASA DAN SENI, Tahun 39, Nomor 2, Agustus 2011
activate his supporters as one unity, the nephew left for Iraq. Who still goes to
power of the people, to do great things: bed each night praying for his safe
return. (Video: 11:48-58)
The same message (cheer and applause
throughout) we had when we were up and c) A Character of a Typical American Life
when we were down; the one that can Obama even presented his own life that
save this country, . . . that together, was uniquely American to become the
ordinary people can do extraordinary corner stone of the point as he was
things (Obama pronounces it describing the idea of “hope”:
distinctively). Because we are not a
collection of red states and blue states. Hope -- hope is what led me here today.
We are the United States of America With a father from Kenya, a mother from
(cheer and applause). And in this Kansas and a story that could only
moment, in this election, we are ready to happen in the United States of America
believe again (cheer and applause). (cheer and applause). (Video: 12:29-39)
(Video: 13:13-49)
Appealing to Audience’s Emotions
b) A Character in Close Touch with the (Pathos)
Common People Obama appealed to his audience’s
Obama brought to the front his own emotions to strengthen their belief or
character as the type of a presidential conviction to further his cause in a number
candidate who suited to the requirement as of different ways.
somebody who knew his peoplebest: a) Evidence of the Rising Power of
The time has come for a president who Coalition
will be honest about the choices and the Obama convincingly aroused his
challenges we face, who will listen to you audience’s emotion as he was splendidly
and learn from you, even when we describing the rising power of the coalition
disagree, who won’t just tell you what to support him:
you want to hear, but what you need to
In lines that stretched around schools and
know. And in New Hampshire, if you give
churches, in small towns and in big cities,
me the same chance that Iowa did
you came together as Democrats,
tonight, I will be that president for
Republicans and independents, to stand
America (cheer and applause).(Video:
up and say that we are one nation.We are
04:18-45)
one people. And our time for change has
Obama’s close touch with the common come.(applause) (Video: 02:16-36)
people was also demonstrated by his b) Alluding to the People’s Power for
personalized anecdote of the life of the Change as the Most American Ideas
common people: Obamaencouraged his audience’s
Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the emotions saying that theycame to the ballot
young woman in Cedar Rapids who for a higher call to bring about change to the
works the night shift after a full day of country:
college and still can’t afford health care
for a sister who’s ill.A young woman who I know you didn’t do this for me. You did
still believes that this country will give this - you did this because you believed so
her the chance to live out her dreams. deeply in the most American of ideas -
(Video: 11:30-47) that in the face of impossible odds, people
who love this country can change
Hope is what I heard in the voice of the it.(applause) (Video: 07:46-18:05)
New Hampshire woman who told me that
she hasn’t been able to breathe since her c) Alluding to the Power of BeliefGunawan, Barack Obama’s Iowa Caucuses Rhetoric| 138
Obama asserted his persuasion for in politics a reason to stand up and to do
encouraging his supporters to further their so (cheer and applause). This was the
cause as he was talking about the value and moment when we finally beat back the
the importance of the belief that gave way policies of fear and doubts and cynicism,
the politics where we tear each other
to one’s hope:
down instead of lifting this country up
Hope is that thing inside us that insists, (cheer and applause). This was the
despite all the evidence to the contrary, moment (cheer and applause). (Video:
that something better awaits us if we have 09:42-10:23)
the courage to reach for it and to work
for it and to fight for it (applause and The Text
cheers). (Video: 11:06-2)
The following is a scrutiny of the
Appealing to Reason and Logic (Logos) speech in terms of Zarefsky’s selected list
of some of the principles of orality and
Obama underscored his political choices of stylistic resources:
platform using his audience’s reason and 1) Simplicity
logic. Obama used more simple structures and
a) The Power of Coalition for Change common words. This was evident as he
Obama convinced his supporters that referred to the rising participation of voters
the occasion was rape to bring change to that reflected the spirit of coalition to bring
Washington as evident in the power of the about change to the country.
coalition that was gaining a momentum.
In lines that stretched around schools and
You said the time has come to move churches, in small towns and in big cities,
beyond the bitterness and pettiness and you came together as Democrats,
anger that’s consumed Washington. To Republicans and independents, to stand
end the political strategy that’s been all up and say that we are one nation. We
about division, and instead make it about are one people. And our time for change
addition. To build a coalition for change has come (cheer and applause, followed
that stretches through red states and blue by shouting “Obama!Obama!Obama!”).
states (applause and cheer). Because (Video: 02:16-36)
that’s how we’ll win in November, and
that’s how we’ll finally meet the 2). Repetition
challenges that we face as a nation Obama used plenty of repetitions of
(applause and cheer). (Video: 02:49- key ideas for various purposes such as for
03:25) having a more convenient footing of the
b) The Spirit of Common Concerns speech delivery, drawing his audience’s
Obama referred to the spirit of common attention, emphasis for the key ideas or
concerns and national unity that was even amplifying his messages.
gaining ground toenable the people to You know, they said ... they said ... they
overcome the long-standing divisiveness: said this day would never come.(Video:
00:54-01:03)
This was the moment when the
improbable beat what Washington always 3) Informality
said was inevitable. This was the moment Obama also used repetition of phrases
when we tore down barriers that have or words to display less formal and
divided us for too long; when we rallied colloquial language:
people of all parties and ages to a
common cause; when we finally gave Give it up for Michelle Obama. (to
Americans who have never participated Michelle Obama) You. You. (Video:
07:28-38) there are nights like this; a139 | BAHASA DAN SENI, Tahun 39, Nomor 2, Agustus 2011
night ... a night ... that, years from now… 6) Rhythm
. (Video: 08:54-59) Obama used repetition of key ideas or
The use of less formal language was also argumentsto create more energetic delivery
evident by the omission of “that-relater” so as to make his audience more involved in
as in “...they said ... they said... they said the speech situation.
this day would never come” (Video:
You know, they said ... they said ... they
00:55-01:03).
said this day would never come. They
4) Reflexivity said our sights were set too high. They
Obama used reflexivity many times, for said this country was too divided, too
instance, as he was referring to himselfin disillusioned to ever come together
an introductory clause “I’ll be a president” around a common purpose. But on this
(4). He used reflexivity as he was referring January night, at this defining moment in
history, you have done what the cynics
to the audience as the second person
said we couldn’t do. You have done what
pronoun (plural) “you” in: the state of New Hampshire can do in five
You said the time has come to move days. You have done what America can
beyond the bitterness and pettiness and do in this new year, 2008. (Video: 00:54-
anger that’s consumed 02:09)
Washington. (Video: 02:49-57)
7) Vividness
He also used reflexivity as he was Obama made it easier for the audience
referring to the situation: to digest the speech when he was
This was the moment when the amplifying the messages by repeating the
improbable beat what Washington always clause “This was the moment…” (4):
said was inevitable. This was the moment This was the moment when the
when we tore down barriers that have improbable beat what Washington always
divided us for too long; when we rallied said was inevitable. This was the moment
people of all parties and ages to a when we tore down barriers that have
common cause; when we finally gave divided us for too long; when we rallied
Americans who have never participated people of all parties and ages to a
in politics a reason to stand up and to do common cause; when we finally gave
so. This was the moment when we finally Americans who have never participated
beat back the policies of fear and doubts in politics a reason to stand up and to do
and cynicism, the politics where we tear so (cheer and applause). This was the
each other down instead of lifting this moment when we finally beat back the
country up. This was the moment. (Video: policies of fear and doubts and cynicism,
09:42-10:23) the politics where we tear each other
5) Clarity down instead of lifting this country up
When Obama was talking about the (cheer and applause). This was the
people’s power in the face of possible odds moment (cheer and applause).(Video:
09:42-10:23)
to bring about change to the country they
loved, he was referring to it as “the most
The Audience
American of ideas” (Video: 07:56-58). He
was also making attempts to speak in more The attendants visible as shown on the
concrete words when he was comparing video were mostly white. Most slogans
what his coalition of supporters did in Iowa visible read “Stand for Change” with the
in terms of a more concrete goal so as “to backdrops of the podium with a banner that
make people's lives just a little bit better” read “Change we can believe”, that became
(Video: 08:26-29). one of Obama’s overarching twin themes –Gunawan, Barack Obama’s Iowa Caucuses Rhetoric| 140
change and coalition. This also showed that from the very beginning in the power of the
Obama’s political base that set aside people to bring change.
divisiveness in politics and society asked
his supporters to join hands in the form of CONCLUSION
coalition for change.
From the first step of the rhetorical
The Second Step of the Rhetorical reading, Obama used some aspects of
Reading of the Actual Delivery of himself as the rhetor:a character to do great
Obama’s Iowa Caucuses Speech: “Our things, a character with a typical American
Time for Change has Come” life, and a charater who was close to the
common people. He appealed to his
The video that shows that Obama’s audience’s emotions to strengthen their
close attendants were mostly white came as belief by arousing their emotion as he was
no surprise as Iowa is known as a state
splendidly describing the rising power of
whose population is 94.7% white, 3.7%
the coalition to support him; alluding to the
Hispanics and 2.3% African American.
people’s power of change; and alluding to
Therefore it was a real test case for an
the people’s power of belief. He also
African-American candidate to see whether appealed his audience’s reason and logic by
America was ready or not for an African- underscoring the coalition’s power for
American president. So Obama’s winning change and the power of the common
turnout (by 38%) in Iowa caucuses to come
concerns.
in front of New York Senator and former The text of Obama’s Iowa speech
First Lady Hillary Clinton (29%) and shows the characteristics of the principle of
surpassed other candidates was evident that orality and choice of stylistic resources such
he had the power to come up as a serious as simplicity, repetition, informality,
contender for the presidency. Obama’s win reflexivity, clarity, rhythm, and vividness.
was even described as “rarity of the The audience to Obama’s Iowa speech were
rarities”: a surprising shock to the American mostly white representing Iowa as one of
politics (Meyerson, Jan 4, 2008). At leat, the whitest states. Thus one of Obama’s
Iowans sent a resounding message to the
overarching twin themes – change – could
rest of the country that America was ready only be made possible by bringing the white
to have an African-American pressident population into his big tent of coalition.
(Thomas, Jan. 17, 2008). The second rhetorical reading of the
For Obama, his win in an speech indicates that Obama’s victory in
overwhelmingly white state was considered Iowa as one of the whitest states sent a
as a measure of the progress that had convincing message to the rest of the
occured in the American society. It was also country that America had made a
evidence for his own electability. Voters – tremendous progress in racial relation. His
young people, old people, democrats, electability was also evident that America
crossover Republicans, independents was ready for an African-American
thronging the ballot – showed that the
President to bring change to the fallen
American people were hungry for change. economy and politics.
They were hungry to put an end to the
broken politics and determined to work
across party lines to tackle the fallen REFERENCES
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