"Faith in America" Rhetorical Analysis

Romney's purpose in conveying this message was to show voters who he was as a candidate. He expressed that he - no matter his religion would remain unbiased, and loyal to the constitution. I think his motive in doing this, was to show readers that he would be a just and fair president, but not sacrifice his beliefs to do so. He believes in God, and the Freedom of religion. He believes that God had influence on the founding of this country, and he would like to encourage that. He is appealing to voters, who want a good president who advocates for those who wish to see God brought back into America, instead of shoved under the rug because the idea of God is "offensive, unrealistic, or discriminating."  "Faith in America" I thought he was very persuasive. Probably pertaining to the fact that I am also LDS, and have similar views. I thought he directed a lot of his argument towards Ethos. He used "identifying with the reader" to his advantage, because in this situation, his audience are all the the United States citizens. He identified with the reader, by talking about the founding of the United States. This topic is something every single person living here can relate to, whether were born into freedom, or came here in search of it. The founding is - and should be something that is important to every citizen. He related to them, by adding himself into the mixture and telling the blessings he has received by living in this great nation, and how he plans to continue to strong and reliable government. He also accomplished this by "selecting an appropriate point of view" he told about his wife and his family, and the joy they can have because of freedom of religion. He made it more personal by telling about himself and his family, as well as his beliefs. He appeals to peoples pathos by giving examples of the past. Most Americans respect our founding fathers, and we all know that the founding fathers, had at least a hint of God in their mind while creating this great nation. Romney chose to take this and run with it. I have heard before that the fathers weren't actually religious, but form this Romney chose to portray that they were so. Which, at least for me, brings some sentimental value to his argument, because I can see how they "trusted in God" and it makes me want to do the same, because look how far we have come. He also uses, sad examples of other countries who have tyrants or murderers taking over because of religious prejudices. This appeals to our Pathos because nobody wants death, and sadness, which he described it to be because of religious discrimination, therefore, religious freedom will keep things like that from happening and make us happy. When applying to Logos, I think there were a few flaws in his argument. Looking to "acceptability" I think he forgot a large majority of citizens - atheists (those that don't believe in God) there are a lot of people in the United States that don't believe in God. To those people I can see a lot of holes in his argument. Because his argument was basically centered around God and religion, those that don't believe in God, are instantly cut out of the group, and probably stop reading the minute they hear the word religion. Those people are looking for a president who is completely focused on the government and politics. As was clearly conveyed by Romney, that he wasn't spouting to be something he wasn't, it think he could have tied in some "logical" stances he had that weren't based around "emotion" which is what a lot of people think religion is - its not logical and realistic, it is an emotional decision. I think Romney had some good Logos points, like equality for all, and the right to freedom, which appeal to mostly everyone, but I think he could have stated his opinions in a less biased manner in order to persuade. Not necessarily to convey who he was a a president because he made it clear he was proud to be a Mormon, but in the sole purpose of persuasion, i think he could have been more comprehensive.