White, moderate women are a key demographic in this election, and their vote will likely decide the winner of the 2016 election. The Clinton campaign recognizes this, and Clinton and her surrogates are aggressively attacking Trump’s treatment and view of women. They hope their rhetorical use of bdelygmia and enthymeme will persuade women to vote against Trump in November.

Bdelygmia

Throughout his campaign, Trump has maintained his respect for women. CNN even compiled a video of him stating his respect multiple times. However, the same day the CNN video aired, Access Hollywood released tapes that feature Trump bragging about his scandalous treatment of women, including kissing them and grabbing them in their private area. According to Clinton’s surrogates this disclaim employed bdelygmia. Bdelygmia takes place when someone expresses disgust about a person, thing, or action. While referencing the lewd tapes in a speech she was giving in Manchester, New Hampshire, Michelle Obama admitted, “I can’t stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.” President Obama told a crowd in North Carolina, “You don’t have to be a husband or a father to hear what we heard just a few days ago and say, ‘that’s not right.’” Both Obamas are using bdelygmia in an effort to fuel the abhorrence many potential voters, especially women, feel, and guide their support away from Trump.

Enthymeme

In addition to bdelymgmia, Clinton surrogates are applying enthymemes in their rhetoric. The narrative of the enthymeme is essentially: women cannot trust Trump to be a good president. Trump harasses women. The audience is meant to fill in the part that those who harass women cannot be trusted to be president. Michelle Obama used a little boy’s words to implement this enthymeme in her New Hampshire speech. She described, “And the little boy, out of the blue, said, ‘I think Hillary Clinton will be President.’ And his mom said, ‘Well, why do you say that?’ And this little six-year-old said, ‘Because the other guy called someone a piggy, and,’ he said, ‘you cannot be President if you call someone a piggy.”’ The ultimate goal is for women to fill in the blank of the enthymeme and decide they cannot trust a man who harasses women to be the next president, and cannot vote for Donald Trump as a result of this realization.

We need to address the big orange elephant in the room which is that Hillary Clinton has a huge advantage against Trump with her army of strong surrogates behind her campaign. The gap between the two candidates, I would argue, is too big for Trump to ever be able to catch up to Clinton. Hillary’s surrogates proved how valuable they were last month when she spent a week dealing with pneumonia, but her campaign did not skip a beat due to her surrogates filling in for her. But even before her illness, US News said, “Clinton’s front-line validators were having a multiplying effect in battleground states whereas Trump has largely been relying on his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, to pitch his case separate from him.”  The difference between Clinton and Trump surrogates is that Hillary has surrogates that will go and campaign FOR her, but Trump’s surrogates will only go campaign WITH him. Hillary’s has an evident ability to form positive relationships with political figures. For voters, it is much more convincing to elect a president (Clinton) that is proud to support a candidate by speaking on their behalf, rather than electing one (Trump) that is struggling to have people willingly speak for him.

US News said, “Trump’s surrogate gap is about the size of the Grand Canyon. It reinforces an advantage that Hillary Clinton has in resources, staff and support, and that puts you in a stronger position across all these critical battlegrounds.”

Surrogates use a verbal and nonverbal rhetoric to influence voters. Celebrity surrogates are a way for uneducated voters to see that an important person is voting a certain way and often that audience will vote the same. Clinton’s database has allowed her to pull a vast array of resources for her platform. An effective group of surrogates is one that can satisfy a diverse group of voters. Clinton has done a good job of having a database of surrogates to target certain crowds. When Clinton wanted to bring gun control to the fore of the national debate, she brought mothers whose children were killed by gun violence on the trail. Clinton can hit the trifecta of surrogates and gain a huge advantage if she can send President Obama to Pennsylvania, Michelle Obama to North Carolina and Bill to Ohio while she is in Florida. Trump does not have as much luxury to pick who he wants to speak on his behalf. If Hillary continues to take advantage of her available surrogate resources, her army of supporters will continue to grow, bringing her even closer to her Presidency in the White House.

Tim Kaine possesses an affable, gregarious, middle-class father personality that complements well with Hillary’s sometimes hawkish demeanor. It is for that reason, to the outcry of the far-left, he was chosen to be Hillary’s ultimate surrogate– her vice-presidential running mate. Kaine’s communicative skills, however, are weak in today’s harsh political climate.

For months, Kaine has been using his down-to-earth sometimes sheepishly heartwarming rhetoric to soften the edges around the Clinton campaign. When Clinton introduced Kaine as her running mate he proceeded to give a speech that fluctuated between English and Spanish. A move that has polled well within many Latino communities, and further reiterates the public perception of ‘Cool Dad Kaine’. Since then, Kaine has proved to be a versatile surrogate with broad appeal. With African-Americans, Kaine calls on his past as a civil-rights lawyer and his membership in a largely black church. As aforementioned, he’s weaponized his proficiency in Spanish as a way to connect with Latino voters. And lastly, his family-first, god-fearing, middle- class background has proven to be a successful rhetoric among white voters.

Having said this, conventional wisdom says Kaine should be a feared surrogate to the GOP opposition. However, the 2016 presidential race is no conventional campaign. With all the nastiness and insults involved in this race, Hillary Clinton needs surrogates that can be attack dogs for her. And this just isn’t Kaine’s forte; if Kaine chooses to succumb to all the nasty rhetoric he risks jeopardizing the Cool-Dad attitude that voters admire. For this very reason Kaine has found himself marginalized by the Clinton campaign.

On the biggest stage of his life, the vice-presidential debate, he had a chance to consolidate his affability with the attack dog mentality that is necessary in these kinds of debate. Kaine failed. Throughout the debate he appeared unhinged and flustered. The defining moment came when in response to a question about the Syrian refugee crisis he inexplicably went on a tangent over Donald Trump’s tax records. Furthermore, Kaine interrupted Pence around 70 times. What’s to blame isn’t Pence’s dodgy style and refusal to live in a world where the things Trump says exist. But Kaine’s close to impossible task of balancing the non-threatening, oh-gee-almighty dad narrative that the Clinton campaign has molded for him, while attempting to be an effective surrogate in this cycle.

It’s been noted that Hillary Clinton’s surrogate speakers may be overpowering her campaign. All these big names like Bill Clinton and the Obamas sometimes overshadow the candidate herself.

These big names are recent additions to the Hillary campaign and it is important to remember earlier, smaller speakers who may have had just as significant contributions.

Clinton had multiple appearances from mothers whose children were victims of gun violence, known as Mothers of the Movement. This group includes the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown. They used their personal stories of interactions with law enforcement as well as their experience meeting with Hillary to draw positive attention to Hillary’s stand on racial issues.

These mothers stood in front of the DNC and talked bluntly and openly about burying their daughters or finding their daughters dead in jail cells. Their harsh language illustrated the reality of the situation.

The authenticity continued to exude as the mothers recalled how they got to sit down with Clinton and her staffers and voice their concerns, which were then written in to policy. They gathered in a journalist-free location for hours as Clinton wrote her own notes as each mother told her story.

The stories these ladies told and the emotions they got the audience to feel used simple narrative and pathos to help convince voters that she cares about racial injustice and give her campaign a more raw and human feeling. These stories also really helped Clinton to appeal to African American voters because these women are so powerful and draw in a lot of sympathy.

Melissa Mark-Viverito, City Council Speaker and a surrogate for Hillary Clinton, employs ethos in order to send the message Clinton is more stable and fit to run for presidency than Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. According to NY1, Mark-Viverito endorsed Clinton in September 2015, helping launch the group “Mujeres for Hillary” and traveling across three states to speak in favor of Clinton.

Mark-Viverito shows her support as a surrogate speaker in early September 2015 by stating Clinton puts forward a “stronger and clearer vision.” Mark-Viverito employs ethos by confirming credibility through her position as City Council Speaker. Burns states it was not always known if Mark-Viverito would support Clinton after she expressed admiration of Bernie Sanders earlier in the year. This contributes to the idea that out of every candidate, Mark-Viverito believes Clinton holds the most stable track record in regards to policy and past voting. This is a means of creating credibility for Mark-Viverito, as though she had experience with each candidate and chose the best option. Mark-Viverito employed ethos when she said “[Clinton] is really taking on issues that matter to me personally.” She is attempting to persuade the audience to delve deeper into Clinton’s issues by persuading them to take the issues personally. She states “I am solidly behind Hillary Clinton” and refers to her as “a friend to Puerto Rico.” Mark-Viverito is attempting to create the image of Clinton as a friend to all by endorsing her campaign and publicly speaking on her behalf.

In conclusion, Mark-Viverito effectively employs ethos when acting as a surrogate for Clinton through her position as City Council Speaker.

One of Hillary Clinton’s election strategies is to convince voters that Donald Trump is unfit to be president. She and her surrogates utilize several rhetorical means to accomplish, including fallacies. This past Monday, Vice President Biden launched a foray of Ad-Hominem and Slippery Slope fallacies against Trump at a rally in Sarasota, Florida.

Sunshine State’s Significance

Florida is a key target for Clinton and Trump. This map from  270towin.com, shows the swing states of the the 2016 Presidential election as of August 4, 2016 below.

As a swing state, Florida plays a vital role in deciding the election winner. Biden acknowledged this at the rally, “You have an incredible opportunity here, as usual, Florida holds the key…Hillary wins Florida, there is absolutely zero path, zero path for this man to make it to the White House.” Triumphing over Trump in Florida, ultimately provides Clinton with a huge win and denies Trump crucial electoral votes.

Ad-Hominems Abound

Clinton continuously attacks Trump’s sanity and presidential caliber. After Trump’s tweets about former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, Clinton responded with her own tweet that called Trump “unhinged.” The full tweet can be accessed at this link: https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/781869125903773696. Biden continued this narrative Monday with ad-hominems. An ad-hominem fallacy attacks a person or their character. According to the article, “VP Biden campaigns for Hillary Clinton” by John Rogers, “Biden questioned Trump’s temperament to be president, citing the 3 a.m. Twitter rant the Republican frontrunner spouted about the former Miss Universe.” Biden later stated, “It bothers me, his lack of any sensibilities to what the American spirit is.” These qualify as ad-hominems because they address Trump’s temperament and empathy, rather than his policy. You can read Biden’s other statements about Trump at this link: http://wfla.com/2016/10/03/vp-biden-to-campaign-for-hillary-clinton-in-sarasota-monday/.

Fear the Slippery Slope

Biden committed another rhetorical sin when he employed a slippery slope to incite fear among voters. He warned, “Everything you worked for, not a joke, in heartbeat, will be wiped out. Not only economically in terms of foreign policy, but in terms of rational social progress, civil rights, civil liberties.” A slippery slope assumes that one event will lead to a disastrous event that snowballs from there. Biden wants the crowd to assume electing Trump will cause the collapse of almost every aspect of American life. Yet, he provides no evidence for this claim.

Followup

While voters may accept Biden’s fallacies, they are not acceptable in the rhetorical realm. Voters must be wary of these tactics employed by surrogates like Biden. They should not base their votes on fallacies. Instead, people should look beyond the fallacies at the candidate’s policies and positions, and base their decisions off of sound rhetoric. I encourage those who attended the rally in Sarasota, and voters in general, to check the facts and the rhetoric.

While Clinton’s content and ideas throughout her candidacy has been top notch, her speaking skills and emotional connections are being questioned as she struggles to secure votes from young voters. Michelle Obama has previously remained removed from partisan politics, however her speech at the Democratic National Convention secured her as potentially the most important surrogate speaker Clinton has, filling in gaps where Clinton lacks in connecting to her audience.

Using Narrative

Mrs. Obama traced the lives of her daughters when they first started living in the White House to growing up there to now as they are about to enter in to the real world. She spoke of the toll that ugly comments towards her husband’s heritage has had on her children. She recounted how she would tell her daughters “to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith” and would insist that “the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country.” As she acknowledged how her and the President serve as many children’s role model through their words and actions, she brought in Hillary and how Hillary is an advocate for all children with various types of needs because she realizes she has this type of attention and uses it in the most beneficial way. Mrs. Obama linking wants in the world for her own kids to qualities that Clinton embodies to achieve her desires added a personal touch to support of Clinton’s campaign.

Using “I” and “We”

Mrs. Obama’s constant use of “I” and “We” was instrumental. Her repetitive use of the phrase “I want a President who…” followed by “our” and “we” statements creates a personal touch. Using this first person relies on Mrs. Obama’s established character to develop character for Clinton as Mrs. Obama brings in Hillary’s actions and how she will fulfill the wishes of the American population as a whole.

Obama wove her personal story into a political argument about the election into the even bigger American narrative and linked this all to the ideas behind the platforms of Hillary Clinton.