John McCain's Concession Speech

I think that John McCain's concession speech was effective in how he did not dwell on the campaign and the election, but looked forward to the future for America. McCain spends a lot of time at the beginning of his speech congratulating Obama and talking about what a historic and important event his election to president is for America. He encourages Republicans to put aside their differences with Democrats in order to make America a better place. His main focus of the speech is about his love for the country and how he wants to see it become an even better country than it is now. McCain uses a lot of pathos throughout his speech, not only talking about his love for the country, but also about the families of all the candidates and the great feeling that the African-American community must have because of Obama's election. He encourages everyone to put the country first, just like he said throughout his campaign, and support Obama in his presidency. I think one of the most effective parts of the speech is at the very end where he states "Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history." These four short sentences are effective in their ability to get his point across without being wordy. They are short and to the point and easy to remember. They also add to McCain's ideas of putting the country first and how great America is.

Bush's 2000 Victory Speech

In his 2000 victory speech, Bush focuses on bipartisan cooperation and what he plans to work on while in office. He repeatedly mentions that despite 2 parties, America needs to work together to solve its problems and that he was elected the president of the whole country, not just the Republicans. He is not boastful and is very respectful of Gore and the campaign that he ran. He also uses war language by saying that he will now work on healing our country after the election and that he salutes Gore and his efforts throughout the campaign. He uses pathos in his talk about his family, his faith and God, and asking for prayer not only for him and his family but also for Gore and his family. He does not use any quotes except for one from Thomas Jefferson when he talks about the close election of 1800 where Jefferson was elected six days after the election because of a tie in the electoral college vote. Bush lays out his plans to work on education, social security, medicare, taxes, military and problems in the society. He uses repetition of the word together when he talks about these plans saying that America needs to work on these problems as a united country. He does not use much humor, but simply thanks Americans for their vote and states what he plans to work on while in office. I think it is effective in promoting unity throughout America and asking for bipartisan cooperation in solving problems.