Presidential Debate

Pathos-they both use pathos by giving new ways to do things in the government. Obama give me the sense that he wants to do the best for us and use the “pay as you go” method that he speaks of. He said that for every new spending plan he has made, he has made an equal cut so that we aren’t drowning ourselves into more debt. When asked about spending money, McCain stated that he would, “…eliminate programs…one of them would be the marketing assistant program. Another one would be a number of subsidies for ethanol.”
Logos-Obama gives the audience an example by using Medicare. He said that he would cut that insurance because “…it doesn’t help seniors get any better. It’s not improving our healthcare system…” He states that if we invest in health studies, it will save us from diseases and such in the future. McCain tells us that we’re giving “a trillion dollar debt” to our kids, and then he goes on to say that he knows how to save those dollars. He gives examples like I stated in the pathos response to help save money.
Ethos-In a way, they both had some bad ethos going for them. For instance, at three minutes and about fifty seconds into my clip, Obama smiles after McCain makes a statement about something Obama supposedly opposes, but you can tell that Obama disagrees. At about five minutes and thirty seconds into the clip, McCain gets done with a spiel, and Obama starts to talk in a more mature way instead of pointing fingers. This makes me thing more of Obama’s character than McCain’s.
McCain used comparison-contrast to sell some of his ideas. When he was explaining what he would cut, he said he would cut back on a lot of drilling and such, which Obama opposed, he says. He wants to do that so that we can become energy independent, which will also create millions of jobs.
Obama also used sort of a definition because he went back and referred to when President Bush went into office. He gave us an example that our debt has doubled over the past 10 or so years, which brings it to our attention why it is so very important to start cutting back on our spending. That brings to our attention that he wants to look at all of our programs and cut the ones that are not of importance and give more attention to those that are low funded and are effective. By giving that reflection on when Bush came into office, if makes us realize our needs now.
This event is meant to be professional. It is the last two presidential candidates going back and forth on their views about spending, but in my opinion, this debate makes them look childish at times. When they point the finger at the other, implying that one’s opinions are better than the other’s, they look childish. They need to be more mature about the way they go about stating the nation’s problems and stating their remedies.