Week #4 Question #3

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading (Chapter 9) that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

I found the section on context and rhetorical situations to be very interesting as I personally believe this section outlines much of what is going wrong and right in the current Presidential race. It seems to me that both parties, but especially the Republican party, are not concerned with presenting their side of the debate within the framework of historical context and rhetorical situations until the fallacy of said statements are brought into the light. For example, McCain's VP choice could be seen as an attempt to hijack the historical context of the presidential race away from the first African American presidential candidate with a small town, self proclaimed "redneck hockey mom." Now whether or not this tactic is one of genius or not is up for interpretation. I for one see through the ploy and laugh at his attempt...but the rest of America seems to have been fooled by the Wizard of Arizona.
An example of how rhetorical situations have been avoided would be how the current economic crisis has been all but ignored by both presidential candidates till just a few days ago when the news took center stage. I believe that not being able to address issues before they reach the crisis point is a con for both candidates as they appear to me to be reacting to the news rather than being ahead of the ball as a President should.
On the other hand, both parties (and ESPECIALLY the Republican party) are very good at presenting their statements in a way which correlates with physical setting, medium and occasion. I believe Fuhrer Bush's rise to the throne through the manipulation of Bible Belt and Midwest voters is a clear example of that.