Clinton's Rhetoric on Women

“Hillary has fought the relentless and insidious efforts by far-right Republicans to limit the protections of Roe v Wade, while also working hard to expand access to family planning services.” Hillary Clinton’s campaign site is remarkably free of overt mentions of opposing candidates. The above quotation demonstrates one response to the opposition without naming names. The word choice in the quotation paints Republicans in a negative light. Interestingly, the word “relentless” can have positive connotations, but “insidious” is rarely every a positive trait to possess. Hillary, according to her website, as fought with, what one must assume, is equal relentlessness. Hillary’s website employs other rhetorical strategies. As a presidential candidate, the rhetorical strategies seen aren’t blatant as opposed to those we might see in commercials and product advertisements. Another rhetorical device used is example. The website uses examples of past acts to show how Hillary has been an advocate for women and will continue to do so. This is directed at women and people who care about women to show them how Hillary will impact their lives. And, with more than half the population being women, this seems like a pretty smart move to make. The website also constructs a persona for Hillary through the glowing depiction of her character. Based purely on the website, one has no choice but to believe that she is the upstanding leader portrayed. The character set up here fits most comfortably into the “entertainer’s stance” outlined in chapter three. The text is clearly important and it is aimed at gaining the approval of the audience, but in order to do so the character is elevated above all. The “canons of rhetoric” are also present. According to chapter three, arrangement and style “assume particular importance” and those are both used to good effect on Hillary’s website. The page on women’s rights starts out with a strong thesis and goes on to support that thesis multiple times in a logical order. The style supports the image that Hillary wants to portray: strong and assertive, but also a woman, and a classy one at that. As any good piece of advertising, the website also employs rhetorical appeals. The whole piece is steeped in the logos of her previous achievements. It stands to reason that she would continue her track record. Ethos can be found in her work to prevent teen pregnancies. Who really approves of teen pregnancies? Probably no one. Hillary has also worked “to empower low-income women”, which plays upon our knowledge that poverty can be awful and anything that can be done to remedy that situation, especially where children are involved, is a wonderful thing. Finally, we have ethos. One must believe that Hillary would not jeopardize something as hugely important as her presidential campaign by giving a false representation of her character. American’s never want to be lied to and now more than ever voters are going to be looking for a president who is going to be straight forward. For someone to start out their campaign with lies would be extreme folly.