Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech to the Republican convention
Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech given at the Republican national convention in 2004 is clearly of persuasive intent supporting the current President, George W. Bush and the Republican Party. The speech is given just before the presidential election in 2004, and Schwarzenegger is recommending sending George Bush to the white house for four more years. He praises the president of that time: “We are one America, and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul. That’s what I admire most about the president. He’s a man of perseverance.” (l. 41, p. 3)
As the speech is given on the Republican convention, the audience is probably all Republicans, and throughout the speech, it is clear that it is given to an audience that has already been convinced. Especially in the introduction to his speech, we see that Schwarzenegger speaks to his sympathizers: “My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a Republican? Well, I tell you how. If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government, then you are a republican. If you believe that a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group, then you are a Republican. If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does, then you are a Republican.” We see here that he focuses his speech on an audience which he addresses as "my fellow Americans". Although he seems to be speaking to all American citizens, he actually focuses in on the Republican citizens. Upon identifying his audience, Schwarzenegger angles his message and rhetorical purposes to them to reinforce their Republican beliefs and create a feeling of pride in America. It is clearly his fundamental belief and intention to convince the audience that this pride in America is a result of having a Republican as president. This gathers the audience as one big group of similarly disposed people, which probably creates a great spirit among his audience.
No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people” (l. 85, p. 4) That is the Californian governor’s statement in his speech. And the quote is clearly nationalistic; Schwarzenegger praises America to the skies and he pays a great tribute to his homeland. In the speech he also says that America’s fight for human rights and democracy has been present for a long time: when the Berlin Wall was brought down, when the youth revolts on Tiananmen Square, China were suppressed by the government and when Nelson Mandela had an election victory after years in prison (l. 69, p. 3). “We are still lamp lighting the
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world, especially those who struggles.” (l. 75, p. 4) Arnold Schwarzenegger has gotten great thoughts about his own homeland, and even though his speech is an election-speech, it sometimes looks like a tribute-speech to the United States of America.
This acclaim underlines that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a republican politician. The Republican Party is a conservative, libertarian centered-right party which protects the old American values as “every man is architect of his own fortune” and the American dream. Schwarzenegger really believes that America is the land of opportunities. This dedicated love to your own country is characteristic for many Republicans, including Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Despite China’s fast developing economy which threatens America’s role as superpower, the Californian governor has faith in America: “Now, they say that India and China are overtaking us. Don’t you believe it. We may hit a few bumps, but America always moves ahead. That’s what Americans do.” (l. 25, p. 2) Arnold Schwarzenegger has an everlasting faith in his country and believes that America will remain being the superpower that it is today.
In line 11, page 1 he says: “If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope for democracy, then you are a Republican”. The fact that he mentions the United Nations (l. 11, p. 2) as a place where you can’t create democracy is quite interesting. Realism in international relations is a theory and one of the dominant schools of thinking, when it comes to international relations. It claims that each nation is selfish and only acts to promote its own national interest and to achieve more power. The theory therefore concludes that the United Nations can’t work as a political platform when it comes to creating world peace and democracy, because international society is like anarchy. It is quite clear that from Schwarzenegger’s point of view, the only way to lead the world into peace is to spread the American thoughts and values of democracy and freedom – and not through negotiations in the UN. His comment on the UN is therefore quite nationalistic.
One of the other things that makes you a Republican is, according to Schwarzenegger, that you have faith in U.S. economy. “And to those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don’t be economic girlie-men.”, Schwarzenegger says in line 17 on page 1. To call the opponents of the Republican way of managing the state budget “girlie-men” is quite pejorative. But this is just underlining that faith and belief in your own country is very important to Schwarzenegger, and he puts it as a Republican thing.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger knows how to make a good speech and he is a good rhetorical. In the introduction to his speech, he lists how you know that you are a Republican and he uses the same sentence structure six times:”If you believe (...), then you are a Republican.” He uses this sentence structure with different Republican key issues – and that is a typical rhetorical trick for politicians: when you use the same sentence structure again and again, it is easier for the audience to follow, and it seems like there is a good flow in your speech. Also, Arnold Schwarzenegger knows how to talk in one-liners and use watchwords, which is easy for the audience to pay tribute to. He doesn’t get himself into complicated unravelings about economic prosperity – he concludes quite simple what makes you a Republican. To keep the sentences simple and use catchy phrases is a very used rhetorical tool.
His speech contains both ethos and pathos-appeal. First of all, he puts words on the fear of terrorism that the Americans had to learn to live with after 9/11. In the beginning of his speech he says that the Republican Party is the party that is fierce and relentless and terminates terrorism (l. 13, p. 1). Later in the speech he brings the subject up again: “Terrorism is more insidious than Communism because it yearns to destroy not just the individual, but the entire international order.” (l. 46, p. 3). This quote appeals to the feelings; terrorism is a subject that makes a lot of feelings appear in people: anger, fear, frustration and more. Schwarzenegger secures the people that the Republicans will work seriously to decrease terrorism. This is pathos-appeal because he talks to the feelings of his audience.
Arnold Schwarzenegger mentions the two Americas: “Now, the other party says that we have two Americas.” (l. 34, p. 2) By “two Americas”, the Democrats is referring to the big gap there is between rich and poor in America. They look upon it as there is one America for the privileged and the wealthy and one for the poor on the bottom of society. But Schwarzenegger rejects this, and instead he says something very unifying: “I have visited our military hospitals. And I tell you this, that our men and women in uniform, do not believe there are two Americas. They believe we are one America, and they are fighting for it.” (l. 37, p. 3). This is also pathos-appeal because Schwarzenegger really speaks to the national feeling of his audience by putting it as “we are all in this together”.
Also, the speech contains some ethos-appeal: Schwarzenegger is referring to George W. Bush and praising him, which was pointed out earlier in the analysis. He includes the president in his speech and in that way refers to an authority, which makes him look serious and reliable.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech is consistent with the 7 P’s of rhetoric: Public, Propositional, Purposive, Problem solving, Pragmatic, Poetic and Powerful. It has it all and it uses a language that everyone can be a part of. The speech must have been quite effect full, because after it was given, Schwarzenegger was reelected as governor.
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