Michelle Obama

Michele Obama's speech was a carefully planned piece of rhetoric. It is clear to me that she knew exactly who she was targeting and how she wanted to pull them in and and characterize her husband in a positive, almost heroic light.

The target of this speech was, obviously, the average American. The undecided people that late in an election cycle are largely lower-income people who are seeking to pick the candidate who they can relate to the most. Most politicans in this country, however, are seen as a higher class, with additional privleges and entitlement to high positions of office. In her speech, Michelle Obama puts forward stories and anecdotes that aim at lowering the two of them down to a more average level. She talks about how both of them are very family-orinted people who worked hard for where they are in society at this point, but mostly came from low or middle income households. This provides her audience with something to connect with the two of them over, and gives them hope that just because your last name isn't Bush, Kennedy, or Clinton, you can still achieve whatever you want. She is also putting forward the view that her values are the same as the average American, and those are the values that matter: hard work, dedication, and respect.