Sunday, November 23, 2008

visual arguments- obama


An opposing visual argument I found^^^^^^^^^^^


My visual argument in response^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I clearly know Obama has already been elected president, but for the sake of my paper, we can pretend Election Day hasn't passed yet.  A big part of my argument in the final paper is dedicated to urging the reader/voter to ignore the physical characteristics of each candidate as a deciding factor, and instead focus on their qualifications, character, political theories, and positions on the issues.  In the first image, the illustrator is centering his argument around Barack Obama's race, claiming that with him in office our traditional "white" government is drastically going to change to black dominance.  This image alone sums up why I chose to write my final paper on Barack Obama and why Americans should ignore this conservative ignorance and racism.   Besides being extremely racist, the visual argument also conveys to viewer that it is going to be a very bad news for the white majority if a black president is elected.  Well, let's say this becomes the case.  Let's say that somehow blacks became the majority and whites become a minority.  Does this illustrator believe that, if this becomes the case, our government and our country as a whole would be in worse shape than it is now?  Not only do I have a problem with the racist view of this argument, but I also become rather frustrated with, like the illustrator, some Americans' fear of change, when our country is most in need of change since the Great Depression.

In response to the cartoon, I made an advertisement promoting, or rather demoting, the traditional conservative White House administration that is run under Bush and supported by John McCain.  I attempted to oppose the change refuting traditionalists in the image by pointing out three of the many negative politics that have developed and grown since George W. Bush has taken over the White House.  The image also demotes the election of John McCain because is shows the close administrative relationship that Bush and McCain share.  My goal in this visual argument is also a big part of my final paper.  I am not only attempting to direct voters to ignore physical characteristics of the candidates, but also to show how change needs to be implemented and will not be under John McCain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ2I0t_Twk0

The youtube link above is to a Barack Obama advertisement called "Still." What I found interesting about the commercial was that it uses what I have been arguing against- physical characteristics to sway viewers away from the opposing candidate.  However, I think the advertisement is very compelling because it uses John McCain's old age- something that entertainment programs such as SNL have used as a basis of humor- to present the argument of his inability, and possible unwillingness, to change and adjust to the changing world since he first got into politics in 1982.  The video then validates this claim by using anecdotes from McCain that demonstrate how he has failed to adapt and modernize, thus making the election of him as president, as it is famously quoted, "more of the same."

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