The presidential debate is a battle of tactics and image that spans across the country as the two presidential candidates strive to improve their image or devalue the opponent’s. Yet strangely, in Hillary Clinton’s advertisement; “Show Up”, there seems to be very little factor of social image in the video. Instead, it seemed as if the video itself was encouraging people to vote, calling the act to vote a ‘reunion’ of the country in order to protect the country’s legacy.

This campaign advertisement is mostly influencing audience through the use of ethos. It is only right to take action to ensure the country’s future. A smaller portion of the advertisement relies on pathos, asking the audience to unite for one purpose.

“You care about protecting his legacy and our progress. You care about moving forward, united as one.”

So perhaps Hillary has taken note that a sizeable portion of the population in a state has taken to subside in the upcoming presidential election. By issuing this advertisement, she addresses to the people that it is only right to rise up to band together. This effect is improved through the use of patriotic word choice. ‘Unite’ is a powerful and significant word in this period of time, where we are going through turmoil as a country.
This advertisement connected to me in that I initially did not intend to vote for the fact that, in my eyes, neither candidate seems up for the task of presidency. International conflict and social deconstruction seems to be the worst cases to occur in this period of time. With a recession and a growing hatred, both of these issues have grown volatile over the nation. So this raises my personal question; am I going to go vote? Probably. However, it is already decided that the state of New York would already be voting for Hillary. The campaign advertisement itself was meant to air in different states where the votes would truly matter. In the end, these strong words were meant for the less resolute states, ones that has a smaller bearing in the decision to vote.