Words Fitly Spoken: Part II

What Makes People Want To Listen?

It's early in the morning of that strange glitch in time we call Leap Day, February 29. I have a friend who was born on this day. I suppose that feels a little bit like being the part of the song on a scratched vinyl record that skips nearly every time it's played. Anyway...
Happy Leap Day!

Some friends who read at POI but don't comment are wondering where I’m going with all this talk about Obama. “Tom, don’t tell me you’re jumping on the bandwagon, too!” They feel compelled to remind me that Obama has the most liberal voting record in the senate, that there's no way he can pay for all his promises, and that he has connections with some pretty questionable characters. None of which (so far) has garnered much attention, and if and when it does, it may not matter to the bandwagon.

At this moment in the primaries, the bandwagon consists of roughly 25% of the electorate, but with each passing day, an ever-stronger breeze billows Obama's sail while his opponent’s ship, sails slack, sits in the distant doldrums. If it becomes clear that Barack’s ship has come in; if Oprah's prophecy comes to pass and "he is the one"; if upcoming state events knock Hillary out of the race and Obama becomes the Democratic nominee; his support will presumably double overnight.

Some may be saying, “Tom, not so fast. Hilary can still pull off this hat trick.” If so, that change of fortunes will be equally amazing. Likewise if McCain, whose future seems more dependent on underlying currents than winds of change, can somehow keep pace with the Democratic nominee, that too will be a fascinating story.

So regardless of who you support at the moment, there’s no denying that we are about to witness a political phenomenon unlike anything in recent memory, and in many ways it may boil down to which candidate makes best use of
words fitly spoken.

Students of rhetoric are familiar with Aristotle’s three elements of persuasion: ETHOS, PATHOS, AND LOGOS.

Part II is about ETHOS, from which we get the word Ethics. ETHOS goes much deeper than personality. It is that intangible quality in a person that causes listeners to believe that the speaker's character, knowledge, and judgment is worthy of respect. It's the degree to which an audience believes that the person they are listening to acts the same when "no one is looking." If a speaker comes across as contrived or put on, listeners will conclude that the worst observations are the most accurate reflection of the person's ETHOS.

I don't mean to pick on Hillary, but ETHOS has been the basic problem with both her and Bill for much of their political careers. Op-Ed Columnist MAUREEN DOWD said two days ago:

"The fact that Obama is exceptionally easy in his skin has made Hillary almost jump out of hers. She can’t turn on her own charm and wit because she can’t get beyond what she sees as the deep injustice of Obama not waiting his turn. Her sunshine-colored jackets on the trail hardly disguise the fact that she’s pea-green with envy. After saying she found her “voice” in New Hampshire, she has turned into Sybil. We’ve had Experienced Hillary, Soft Hillary, Hard Hillary, Misty Hillary, Sarcastic Hillary, Joined-at-the-Hip-to-Bill Hillary, Her-Own-Person-Who-Just-Happens-to-Be-Married-to-a-Former-President Hillary, It’s-My-Turn Hillary, Cuddly Hillary, Let’s-Get-Down-in-the-Dirt-and-Fight-Like-Dogs Hillary....If she can only change this or that about her persona, or tear down this or that about Obama’s. But the whirlwind of changes and charges gets wearing. By threatening to throw the kitchen sink at Obama, the Clinton campaign simply confirmed the fact that they might be going down the drain."
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Here's how Slate on Youtube illustrate the point:
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Some may cry "unfair!" But fair or not, since the on-screen ethos of Hillary is ever-changing and hostile under pressure, the public tends to believe the reports of what Hillary is like behind closed doors.

Likewise, if the race is eventually between Obama and McCain (who has his own ethos and authenticity issues), the ETHOS, attitude, and personality contrast between them may be as stark as the following Youtube contributions: We've already seen the original video of "Yes We Can" derived from Obama's speech.

Well, here's the one called "No You Can't" derived from McCain lines.

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There is so much more to say about ETHOS, but alas Pathos and Logos are waiting in the wings. I will be working on the Thailand video for the next few days, so it will be a while before I can post Part III .

[Bob sent me this animated Walt Handelsman cartoon Friday PM.]