Rhetorical Analysis of Persuasive Paragraph

John McCain has a strong record of working across the aisle to reform how business is done in Washington. Throughout his career of public service, John McCain has worked across party aisles with Republicans and Democrats alike to reform our campaign finance system, confirm qualified judges like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito, and enhance our homeland security. He spoke out against his own party's out-of-control spending, against the Administration to change a failing strategy in Iraq, and against an energy bill that was full of giveaways to Big Oil companies. To keep our nation prosperous, strong and growing we have to rethink, reform and reinvent: the way we educate our children; train our workers; deliver health care services; support retirees; fuel our transportation network; stimulate research and development; and harness new technologies.

I found this on johnmccain.com. I looked there because I was sure they would try to persuade you to vote for him. This paragraph tries to convince you that John McCain is willing to work with people not of his party. This is done to try to convince Democrats that they will not be left out if McCain is elected, therefore they should vote for him. It says he spoke out against his own party. This tries to appeal to everyone. They’re saying that John McCain searches for the right solution, regardless of partisan politics. It’s presented that he’s spoken out against Big Oil. This draws on everyone’s emotions because oil prices affect everyone’s lives, and big oil is often painted as evil. This is meant to make us feel as if McCain is on our side against this enemy. The next paragraph presents the broad plan for the future. It includes everyone (children, workers, retirees) so that everyone feels like their issue is going to be significant and addressed by the new administration. It associates positive words like prosperous, strong, and growing with McCain. There is a bit of a fallacy with words like qualified judge because that certainly is an opinion. Also that he has enhanced our homeland security is an opinion. Overall it makes it seem like he has done all of this by himself with is definitely false.