Obama’s Victory Talk

Mr. Obama’s Victory Talk

On March 18, 2008 Barack Obama gave a speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia that ended up being the responsible of his winning elections. Mr. Obama made all of his audience (Even the ones who did not vote for him) go back in time and reflect about today’s action, hence, the victory speech was directed to everyone who cared about their people. Mr. Obama flew all of his audience back in time as a reminder of how long it has been and what do the people have already overcome. “A more perfect union” was the theme of his speech; a perfect union is what Barack Obama showed to his audience. The tone of Obama’s speech is what really has the victory of his winning, accompanied to the strong argument he gave. From the beginning of the speech Mr. Obama make references to human equality, saying that no matter what is the color of your skin, your religious beliefs or even your sexual preferences, there will be an answer for you, for all of us; proclaiming a change in the United States society. President candidate, Barack Obama, gave his argument based in Logos, but primary in pathos and ethos by giving to the audience vivid examples and by appealing to emotions; analyzing his argument is critical on the why he won.

As the speech started to fluid, Mr. Obama made reference to slavery, which was the origin of race segregation and, therefore, what emphasized today’s inequality, we can see it on his first statement:

“Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.” (Pg. 2)

As Obama showed, a perfect union is not an idea of today’s world, but an idea from the origins of this country. Therefore, the purpose of Obama’s speech is to remind the people that achieving a perfect union is already half its way. Obama stated that the purpose of his campaign was “[…] to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America.” (Pg. 2). Evidently, Mr. Obama indicated very clear what his campaign was all about, thus, we can see how direct he presented himself to the audience. In order for people to know why he chose to fight for human equality, Obama started explaining his story, his beliefs and formation. Barack Obama is a son of a black man and a white woman, he was raised with the help of two white grandfathers; Obama is a product of a mixed race. Obama’s story is not the best one, as he mentions, however it is a story that has made him realized the situation that the United States is living: human segregation, which is something that has slowly vanish. As Obama said: “Understanding this reality [race-segregation] requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point” (Pg. 2). At this point, Obama presents the idea of a more perfect union less utopian. Moreover, Mr. Obama presents how school segregation is still a problem and how much

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