Blog 2- Opinion Piece: Romney and Logos

While in elementary school, I went to a weekly Bible study. There were lots of parables and Christian boys, and each week we would memorize some verses and get candy when we said them correctly. I would usually memorize my verse in the car ride there and forget it by the end of the evening. The group was called LOGOS, Love Of God Our Savior. I went there more for the dodge ball and the monthly pizza nights.

Logos in the Aristotelian sense refers to one's rhetorical conclusion and the premises that support it.  Mitt Romney's Republican National Convention acceptance speech did not emphasize this part of the rhetorical triangle. Facts were often replaced by sweeping generalizations--descriptions of the expectations and actions of "everyone", "people", and "Americans"--and the majority of the speech was about being relatable, epitomized by the iPod comment early on.  Mitt Romney was like you. He grew up in Michigan. He fell in love. He raised a family, and he learned from his parents, whose pivotal tale of loss is probably the most compelling part of the speech. There was a surplus of dodge ball and pizza, but other than the obvious, what are we the casual viewer supposed to take away?

One point I found fascinating pertains to Romney's comparison of Obama to Jimmy Carter. Every president since the Great Depression can say "'you are better off today than you were four years ago.'" except these two men. While it is dangerous to bring up Jimmy Carter in an ill light, he is widely regarded as a humanitarian, those who remember his presidency would respond to this association. With this in mind, Romney's largely factual accusations against Obama have some additional sting.  Romney says of Obama's term," Family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums are higher, food prices are higher, utility bills are higher, and gasoline prices have doubled," all things that were also true during Jimmy Carter's. No doubt Baby Boomers and members of Generation X can still recall having to wait in line at the gas station.

Romney's pathos when coupled with these recollections point to a man of wisdom from a bygone age. He is not going to reinvent the wheel. There was a simpler time when that wheel was perfect--it was made in America by Chevrolet. There was a time when families were our greatest asset. Romney's parents were married for 64 years. Where did those nuclear families go? Romney is a man who was shaped by these values. He thinks he can bring them back.