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New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 209

Michelle Obama – “How hard you

work”. Critical Discourse Analysis
Andreea – Nicoleta Voina, PhD Candidate
“Babeș-Bolyai University”, Cluj-Napoca
voina@fspac.ro

Abstract
The paper focuses on the speech that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, delivered
in the Democratic National Convention. The speech is meant to legitimate Barack
Obama’s candidacy and display him as a person who has lived the American dream
and whose vision for the nation recommends him for presidency. In the following
pages, we will try to identify the persuasive strategies used by Michelle Obama in
order to vouch for her husband’s perfect fit for the office.
Among the gallery of women in politics nowadays, an emblematic figure is Mi-
chelle Obama, USA’s First Lady, this being a significant form of political participation
in the American political system. As trendsetter for American women – role that
in the past belonged to First Ladies like Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy and
Rosalynn Carter –, Michelle Obama is a personality well-known for her distinctive
rhetorical qualities, which have helped the President along his political career.
Keywords: rhetoric, women, politics, discourse, strategy.

Motto: „Being a leader is like being a lady,

if you have to go around telling people
you are one, you aren’t.” (Margaret Thatcher)

Introduction
Modern politics developed within the context of democracy focuses
increasingly on the political actor, on personality and image, overshadowing
political ideas, ideology or political institutions. Modern politics is potentiated by
the image of the power holder: „In older days, politics means ideas. Nowadays,
politics means persons. Or rather characters. Because every leader seems to choose
a position and play a part. Just like in a show” (Coman 2010). The current trend
of reconfiguring politics involves a process of personalization, during which
the emphasis is laid on personal sources of power, such as the attributes
and personality traits of politicians, elements that „shape the activity of the
political leader” (Gheorghiță 2009). The emotional investment of the political
210 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

actor in a certain issue weighs on all the aspects regarding the attainment
of a situational diagnosis and shaping a remedy.
Among the trends of modern politics, we must single out the rise of female
politicians, as the world political configuration integrates more and more
female characters. Starting with emblematic figures like Benazir Bhutto,
Eva Perón, Margaret Thatcher or Mary Robinson, the global political scene
abounds in premieres regarding the women’s positioning on the first line
of politics. Dilma Rousseff is the first female President of Brazil; Cristina
Fernández de Kirchner – President of Argentina – is the first woman to in-
herit her husband’s presidentship; Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is the first female
prime minister of Iceland and the first premier married to a person of the
same sex; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf – President of Liberia – is the first woman
of color who became President and the first woman to be the head of an
African state; Angela Merkel – the first female Chancellor in the history
of the Federal Republic of Germany, designated by Forbes Magazine to be
the world’s most powerful woman four times in a row. Recently, USA has
scored an important progress, a first regarding women’s rights, as the state
of New Hampshire is the first to have elected for Congress a delegation
exclusively formed by female representatives.
Another way of female political involvement – with a significant impact
on society – is the position of First Lady, who in the American culture has an
important role in her husband’s career, as well as in the nation’s life, by the
power of example. By all means, the role of America’s First Lady as hostess of
the White House involves classical aspects, such as appearances during the
ceremonies or presiding official dinners, yet they must impersonate a model
of activism, fighting for solving social causes. Whether they decide to run
for public office – like Hillary Clinton – or not, the history of First Ladies of
America has been marked by a series of remarkable personalities who were
thought to be trendsetters, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy,
Rosalynn Carter or Michelle Obama, who is the first African-American
woman holding this role:
“But what makes Michelle Obama remarkable is how she transcended the low
expectations set for women and blacks to become an Ivy League-educated lawyer and
hospital executive, while clinging to the values of her working-class upbringing: can-
dor about life’s hard truths and the overarching importance of family.” (Olive 2008)
Over the time, the First Lady has proven outstanding rhetorical abilities,
which come close to Obama’s oratorical performances. Michelle shows
spontaneity in delivering her speeches, she feels comfortable speaking in
front of an audience, who is acquainted with the speeches created by the
First Lady herself, delivered without notes, on various subjects. The speech
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 211

undergoing the present critical analysis fits the pattern with which Michelle
Obama has attuned her audience, and focuses on the idea that victories ob-
tained with difficulty need continuous effort and perseverance (Olive 2008).

Theoretical framework

Political discourse
The political discourse – the stake of which is power – is the type of
discourse that firstly aims to attain legitimacy, either we talk about the
legitimacy of an idea, a party, a political actor or an action/measure. An
interesting perspective which stresses the idea of legitimacy is the one
that defines political discourse as „a power tool; it [n. ed. the power] is justified
through it, it is expressed and retained, it (re)creates its own legitimacy chronicle,
its own cosmogony and, thus, its own evolution direction” (Gherghina & Mișcoiu
2010). Therefore, the discourse of modern politics is not determined by a
standard structure, but is built in a contextual and personalized manner,
according to the personality traits of the one delivering it. In case of the
political actor who possesses rhetorical competences and abilities, the speech
serves as a card, presenting him as „a dynamic showman, qualified in the art
of rhetoric” (Coman 2010).
Moreover, the speech goes beyond the text itself, it reflects aspects like
„a historical monument, a «lieu de mémoire», a policy, a political strategy, nar-
ratives in a restricted or broad sense of the term, text, talk, a speech, topic-related
conversations, to language per se” (Wodak & Meyer 2008). Also, the political
speech can come in different shapes, such as legitimacy speech, ideological
speech, doctrinary speech, official or objector speech, speech of defense or
offense, nationalist speech, populist, elitist, technocrat speech, pragmatic
or regulatory speech, delivered to a mass or to a specialized public, direct
or indirect speech and, finally, electoral speech (Fotache 2002).
Given the fact that the political speech, projected as a manifestation of
political language, has an outstanding impact „on political agitation, expand-
ing the political support, orienting the potential followers to a certain direction”
(Măgureanu 1997), an instrument for quantifying the efficiency in obtaining
power is the performative force of the political actor. Thus, we find relevant
the moments in which the politician operates with abstract notions such as
democracy, freedom, hope, rights, which the speaker can tone in the desired
direction, as their significance – to the audience – has the value of a social
construct. Therefore, the language is a means for reconstructing significant
objects for the audience, potentially reorganizing their world. Political
212 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

communication is, thus, filtered “by means of a «symbolical logic», that refers to
values, and of a «pragmatical logic», that governates actions” (Măgureanu 1997).
In another train of thoughts, the construction methods of a political
discourse are divided in two great categories: argumentative methods, that
encompass arguments based on facts, analogies, examples and authority,
and stylistic methods, used in order to inlay the speech, and also in order
to conceal and hide the true intentions of the speaker. Hence, Wittgenstein’s
view on political discourse: „political language disguises the thought in such
a way that the shape of the disguised thought cannot be inferred from the exterior
shape of the drapery” (Fotache 2002).
Back to the idea of performative force, the impact of a political speech
goes beyond the effect of uttering the words, to the entire mix of commu-
nication: spoken word, language, symbols, charisma, body language, dress
code, paralingvistic communication, context. Experts in gestures place body
language first in delivering a speech, stating that „the charisma aimed at by
all politicians, from one end of the political checkerboard to the other, is neither the
effect of rhetoric, nor the result of a rich culture or of a fine intellect” (Messinger
2012), but is acquired by creating an intelligent psychogestual identity.
Moreover, the theorist translates the projection of a gesture repertoire by a
politician through the identification of the elector with the said politician,
due to belonging to the same gesture clan – „it’s about a game based on empa-
thy: the natural affinity or antipathy are not tributary to the probable weather, but
to your probable mood and to a mysterious attraction or dismissal that manifests
through your gestures and postures” (Messinger 2012). Thus, in the context of
modern politics, the promoters of non-verbal theories advocate that gesture
sequences bear a subliminal impact, and the elector tends to identify and
side with the political actor who comes closest to his gesture pattern.

Critical discourse analysis

The concept of critical discourse analysis originates from an entire collec-
tion of disciplines: Rhetoric, Text linguistics, Anthropology, Philosophy,
Socio-Psychology, Cognitive Science, Literary Studies and Sociolinguistics,
Applied Linguistics and Pragmatics (Wodak & Meyer 2008). An essential
aspect of this concept consists in perceiving the language in terms of social
practice, and the context has a primary role in carrying out the analysis.
Teun van Dijk defines CDA as „not a homogenous model, nor a school or a par-
adigm, but at most a shared perspective on doing linguistics, semiotic or discourse
analysis” (Horvath 2009).
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 213

Another perspective is the one initiated by Norman Fairclough, who

defines the concept in terms of:
„discourse analysis which aims to systematically explore often opaque
relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive
practice, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures,
relations and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and
texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power
and struggles over power; and to explore how the opacity of these
relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing
power and hegemony.” (Horvath 2009)
Retainable is the fact that, according to the same theorist, there are three
discourse levels: the social conditions of producing and interpreting, the pro-
cess of producing and interpreting and the text. Also, the same Fairclough
proposes three phases of CDA: description, interpretation and explanation
(Horvath 2009).

Liberal discourse
“You know I think the world of you, Barack, but your wife…wow!” (Olive 2008),
says the American president in a speech, referring to the opinions about
her interaction with crowds, formulated by those who had the opportu-
nity to work with the First Lady. During the campaign and not only then,
Michelle Obama is the strongest image vehicle of the President, fulfilling
the role of message multiplier. Her speeches are pleas for Barack’s political
ideas and for the qualities that recommend him for presidency. Thus, the
making of an optimal analysis requires configuring the liberal discourse
and differentiating it from the conservative one.
Barack Obama currently is the most representative figure of the Democratic
Party. The discourse that arises from this stance is one oriented towards the
interest of the American citizen, centered on the issue of freedom, presenting
the main courses of action in different areas: political, institutional, social,
economic, cultural. The democratic discourse opens the road for debate
between Power and Opposition, reflecting a clear, steady orientation, with
opportunistic tendencies, following the Winner-takes-all principle.
The ideology of the Democratic Party consists in a modern liberalism,
the most recent trends of the liberal discourse including topics like the
women’s reproductive rights (pro-choice), the sexual minorities rights, a
universal healthcare system as competitive advantage of the Americans,
multiculturalism – affirmative action in order to reduce discrimination, the
most relevant here is Obama’s Golden Rule: mutual respect.
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In what concerns the differentiation of the liberal discourse from the con-
servative one, the latter supports the Principle of Divine Creation, whereas
the liberals place at the origins of the state organization a set of principles
of the humanity comprised in the founding documents: the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights (Horvath 2009). However,
religion is not absent from the liberal discourse, especially when it comes
about Obama’s discourse, in which faith and hope are leitmotifs: “[…] and I
think it’s time that we join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our
modern, pluralistic democracy” (Olive 2008).
Also, the concept of freedom shows in the liberal discourse in terms of
individual’s social and political rights, in other words, the lack of state,
church, or other individuals’ interference in the life and decisions of every
individual. Moreover, the term of justice is put to value in the liberal dis-
course, bearing the meaning of equality and affirmative action on a social
level (Horvath 2009). Another element of this type of discourse is capitalism,
perceived as a phenomenon that generates wealth and can function in favour
of the commonweal (Horvath 2009).
In order to configure the primary difference between the two ideologies,
we find to be relevant Hunter’s perspective, which says that „where the cultural
conservatives tend to define freedom economically (as individual economic initia-
tive) and justice socially (as righteous living), progressives tend to define freedom
socially (as individual rights) and justice economically (as equity)” (Horvath 2009).
We conclude by stating that the liberal discourse offers a different valence to
the concept of American Dream, reflecting equal opportunities for all individuals.
Michelle Obama supports this idea, at the same time promoting the idea of
social mobility, of citizen’s evolution on the social hierarchy, as result of tireless
effort, while always presenting the Acting President as a role model, even in the
speech of our research: “Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it”.

The general frame of the speech

The speech we put under the lens bears the name of “How hard you work”
and was delivered by the First Lady of America during the Democratic Na-
tional Convention, which took place during September 4th and 6th of 2012
in Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina. Known as a long tradition
event, the DNC takes place once every four years and it is an occasion for the
party’s attunement and, also, represents the context in which the duet run-
ning for president- and vicepresidentship of the United States is nominated
and legitimized. Basically, the event represents a mix of powers, a suite of
speeches meant to support the candidates, delivered by the top leaders of the
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 215

party, as well as other image multipliers, from TV stars to fervent supporters.

The convention reaches its peak when the candidate delivers his acceptance
speech, and the last two conventions had Barack Obama in the spotlight.
The rhetorical performance of the First Lady lasted for 25 minutes and
represented the climax of the first day of the convention, and it was pre-
sented with high spirits by the penultimate speaker, Elaine Brye, a teacher
from Ohio, mother of four young men who serve their country in the United
States Armed Forces. In the light of the presented facts, Michelle Obama’s
speech is, probably, the second most powerful moment of the convention –
following her husband’s acceptance speech –, and the First Lady turns out to
be the most remarkable image multiplier of the candidate: “Overwhelmingly,
Michelle Obama has been an asset to her husband’s campaign: a symbol of grit and
grace under the everyday pressures of caring for an extended family” (Olive 2008).
The core of the speech represents the legitimation of Barack Obama as
President of the United States of America, as the whole speech is a plea
for the world’s strongest leader, focusing on the contribution he brought
to America’s progress through work and motivation and on the necessity
of winning a new term, in order to project into reality his vision on what
America can become. Also, the central theme of the speech is – like we can
infer from the name by which the speech was distinguished – work, tireless
effort in order to meet and solve the social issues of the US citizens. Thereby,
the core of the speech is the following idea: “[…] how hard you work matters
more than how much you make”.
Barack Obama’s second candidacy comes against one of the lowest job
approval rates among the American presidents following World War II.
According to Gallup (“Obama Averages 49% Approval in First Term”, 2013),
the median approval rate for the first term reaches 49.1%, placing Obama
on the third spot at the bottom of the list. The fall of the image capital is a
classical phenomenon, which can be blamed on the process of government
depreciation. In the case of president Barack Obama, the decrease in pop-
ularity is due to the fragile economic context, which generated difficult
measures for the American society. A reason for the decrease of the presi-
dent’s image capital is the unemployment rate, that surpassed 10% during
his first presidential term (October 2009 – 10.1%) (“US jobless data: how has
unemployment changed under Obama?”, 2013). Hardly during the month
of the speech there is a significant progress in the unemployment rate,
declining for the first time during Obama’s term under 8%, thus coming
back to the level of the first month after Obama’s swearing in, which is 7.8%
(“US jobless data: how has unemployment changed under Obama?”, 2013).
However, Gallup presents a series of indicators that have suffered a positive
216 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

evolution, indicators that reflect optimism among Americans: Economic

Confidence Index, satisfaction towards the status quo, improvement of the
standard of living, Job Creation Index (“Many Key Indicators Better Than
When Obama Took Office”, 2012).
As a general idea, the numbers indicate positive jumps of the job approval
rate, determined by the crisis management abilities of the president. Thus,
Obama’s popularity among American citizens reaches a high rate (“Obama’s
Approval Rises in Superstorm Sandy’s Wake”, 2012) as a reaction to the man-
agement of the disaster caused by Hurricane Sandy, yet the peak of Obama’s
popularity – after the approval rate in October 2009 – coincides with his reaction
to the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut (“Obama’s Approval at 56%, Highest
Since October 2009”, 2012), as the American president participated and delivered
a speech at the victim commemoration ceremony, followed by launching a fight
plan against gun violence. Also, Barack Obama marks an increase in support
both from the citizens, and from the political parties (“Obama Approval Rally
Largely Over”, 2011), as a result of the outcome of the Osama bin Laden opera-
tion, notable achievement in the field of terrorism management.
As stated before, the speech is presented on the occasion of the demo-
crats’ legitimation of Barack Obama’s candidacy and consists in a vehicle
meant to potentiate his message. The speech brings legitimacy to Obama’s
political measures and ideas and supports the necessity of a new presiden-
tial term, in order to bring to life his vision, his plan of leading America
towards harmony and social equality, prosperity and security, through
tireless effort and team work. Moreover, the First Lady does not miss the
opportunity to tone up America’s power and greatness on the global scene
and the uniqueness of the American spirit.

Analysis

Analysis of the ideological component

Researching the ideological dimension of Michelle Obama’s speech
from the Democratic National Convention aims to identify the connections
between the speech itself, the social context and the interpretation of the
hidden ideological content. In the construction of the discourse, the ideo-
logical elements appear, mostly, in the second half of the speech, as the first
part is reserved for personal examples.
“I want to start by thanking Elaine. Elaine, thank you so much. We are so
grateful for your family’s service and sacrifice. And we will always have your
back”. The speech makes its debut with acknowledgments offered to Elaine
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 217

Brye – mother of four members of the United States Armed Forces. Michelle
Obama continues with a eulogy to the American spirit, speaking about de-
votion, hospitality, solidarity: “I’ve seen it in teachers in a near bankrupt school
district who vowed to keep teaching without pay. I — I have seen it in people who
become heroes at a moment’s notice, diving into harm’s way to save others, flying
across the country to put out a fire, driving for hours to bail out a flooded town”. The
idea of the teachers willing to carry out their mission without any financial
rewards somehow conceals an explanation for Obama’s measures during
the delicate economical context, as the trade unionists from the public sector
were displeased with these measures. Moreover, the First Lady reiterates
the idea of patriotism, of sacrifice for the mother-country: “In the young men
blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan who said simply, «I’d give my eyes 100 times again
to have the chance to do what I have done, and what I can still do»”. The American
sacrifice is the core of Barack Obama’s speeches, as he is responsible for the
withdrawal of the American army from Iraq and the elimination of the head
of al-Qaeda. Moreover, from the first declarations (“US Middle East Policy
in Obama’s Second Term”, 2013) of the President arises the idea that a major
priority for the current presidential term is renewing the peace between
Israel and Palestine. Also, in 2012, Obama was talking about withdrawing
the troops from Afghanistan. By Michelle Obama’s ingeniously laid phrases,
not only does she express her appreciation for those who devote themselves
to their homeland, but she also emphasizes the President’s merits and his
policies in the area of international relations and fight against terrorism.
By the whole introductory sequence, the President’s wife underlines his
vision regarding the noble character of publice service, while highlighting
the importance of the active citizen quality.
In another train of thoughts, the First Lady does not miss any opportunity
to emphasize the uniqueness of the American spirit and state in the world:
“how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth”, “I have seen the very
best of the American spirit”, “keep moving this great country forward”, “citizens
of this great democracy”, “it is who we are as Americans”. All these are meant
to draw the audience, to engage it, involve it, by making it responsible and
determining it to acknowledge the idea of civic duty: “And if so many brave
men and women could wear our country’s uniform and sacrifice their lives for our
most fundamental rights, then surely we can do our part as citizens of this great
democracy to exercise those rights”.
The first frame in which Barack Obama appears stresses his political actor
quality, and not the quality of father or husband, which is a new mark of
the President’s patriotism, reflecting his devotion for the homeland: “While
I believed deeply in my husband’s vision for this country, and I was certain he
218 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

would make an extraordinary president, like any mother, I was worried about what
it would mean for our girls if he got that chance”.
Michelle also approaches the issue of equality of opportunity, recollecting
Barack’s grandmother’s efforts to offer her family a decent living and, at
the same time, emphasizing the idea of hope promoted by the President’s
speeches, the hope for a better living for the descendants:
“Barack’s grandmother started out as a secretary at a community bank.
And she moved quickly up the ranks, but like so many women, she hit
a glass ceiling. And for years, men no more qualified than she was,
men she had actually trained, were promoted up the ladder ahead of
her, earning more and more money while Barack’s family continued
to scrape by.”
Moreover, Michelle Obama appeals to the fact that president signed
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, meant to eliminate wage discrimination.
Another aspect regarding women’s rights consists of the sequence that
shows Obama’s support for women’s reproductive rights: “And he believes
that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies
and our health care”.
Another ideological aspect from the First Lady’s speech is the idea of
rebuilding the economy. Based on the power of example, she starts from
the example of simple people, from the working class, the example of
her father and Barack’s grandmother, in order to justify the economi-
cal measures taken by the President during his first term, against the
financial crisis:
“He’s thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day’s work […]
That is why he cut taxes for working families and small businesses and
fought to get the auto industry back on its feet. That’s how he brought
our economy from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again. Jobs you
can raise a family on, good jobs.”
All the personal examples presented by the President’s wife lead to
the core of the speech, which ties the biographic elements to the political
aspects in an ingenious manner: “We learned about dignity and decency. That
how hard you work matters more than how much you make. That helping others
means more than just getting ahead yourself”.
Another mark for modern liberalism is the Golden Rule promoted by the
American President, who claims that the United States can reach progress
by putting to value the principle of mutual respect:
“We learned about honesty and integrity. That the truth matters.
That you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules. And
success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square. We learned
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 219

about gratitude and humility. That so many people had a hand in our
success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our
school clean. And we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and
treat everyone with respect.”
Another argument given to the audience by Michelle Obama in order
to justify the measures taken in order to rebuild the economy is the one ac-
cording to which, in critical situations, there is no right or wrong answer,
and the producer of the decision are not statistics, numbers or the advisor’s
know-how, but some kind of a pragmatism, given by internal resources – the
values that guide one’s life, vision and experience:
“the issues that come across a President’s desk are always the hard
ones. You know, the problems where no amount of data or numbers
will get you to the right answer. The judgment calls where the stakes
are so high and there is no margin for error. And as President, you
are going to get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people, but at the
end of the day when it comes time to make that decision as President,
all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and the life
experiences that make you who you are.”
Among the most recent trends of modern liberalism there is citizen’s
universal access to healthcare, the President’s wife highlighting his fortitude
at this point, as he was not afraid to approach such a delicate issue:
“When it comes to the health of our families, Barack refused to listen
to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day,
another president. He didn’t care whether it was the easy thing to do
politically. No, that is not how he was raised.  He cared that it was the
right thing to do. […] And no one in this country should ever go broke
because of an accident or an illness.”
One of the marks of modern liberalism promoted by Obama is economic
equity, which reflects – among others – in the education system reform, as
Obama’s policies in this domain target the growth in accessibility of higher
education for American citizens:
“When it comes to giving our kids the education they deserve, Barack
knows that like me and like so many of you, he never could have attended
college without financial aid. And that’s why Barack has fought so hard
to increase student aid, and keep interest rates down because he wants
every young person to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college
without a mountain of debt.”
Towards the end of the speech, the First Lady builds a review of the
great events that have led to the current configuration of the United States
of America, as the course of actions throughout history has always been
220 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

exerting power in order to fulfill a noble purpose. Thus, Michelle Obama

presents the idea of justice – essential dimension of modern liberalism:
“If — if farmers and — and blacksmiths could win independence from
an empire, if — if immigrants could leave behind everything they knew
for better life on our shores, if women can be dragged to jail for seeking
to vote, if a generation could defeat a depression and define greatness
for all time, if a young preacher could lift us to the mountain top with
his righteous dream, and if proud Americans can be who they are and
boldly stand at the altar with who they love, then surely, surely, we
can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great American
dream. Because in the end — in the end, more than anything else, that
is the story of this country.”
We therefore conclude by stating that the speech the First Lady delivers
is not a highly ideological one, but it sets up – betting on biographic aspects
– a version of America in the past and another one projected in the near
future, based on the premises of a new presidential term for Barack Obama.
Manifesting an outstanding impetus and an extraordinary faith in Obama’s
vision, Michelle offers the audience a testimonial meant to legitimate the
Acting President’s candidacy.

Content analysis
In order to achieve the quantitative dimension of the present research
paper, we aim to make an analysis of keywords and frequencies for the most
used words. The speech represents a suite of 3.128 words, rated by Smart
Politics with 12.84 (“Michelle Obama’s DNC Speech Written at 7 Grade
Levels Above Ann Romney’s”, 2012) in what concerns accessibility, which
ranks it first in the ranking of the speeches of the last two decades. Also, the
discourse differentiates itself from others through long, elaborate phrases,
with a medium number of 30.66 words per phrase. The most used word is
our, which appears 40 times during the speech, then we – mentioned 36
times –, terms that refer both to the idea of nation and the idea of couple,
followed by Barack, recurring 29 times, which is natural, as the whole text
is built in order to support the President.
As a result, we can observe that the speech is centered around the
President, who shows within the speech in several shapes and ways. The
second relevant aspect is the idea of work, which actually constitutes the
main theme of the speech. Then, the focus falls on the ideea of family and
love, after which the interest migrates in the area of the American nation.
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 221

Words Combinations
Keywords Frequency Keywords Frequency
Work 14 we can 6
Family 13 my husband 6
More 13 our girls 6
Love 13 thank you 5
Country 12 the same man 4
America/n 12 Barack Obama 3
Can 11 in the end 3
Let 10 First Lady 3
Man 10 men and 3
President 10 and women 3
People 10
Life 8
Dream 7
Women 7
Proud 6
Chance 6
Change 6

A persuasion strategy used by Michelle Obama, as well as by the Amer-

ican president, is the Rule of Three, meant to create a cliffhanger as to even-
tually release the tension, by toning up certain ideas and getting applauses:
“everywhere I’ve gone and the people I’ve met and the stories I’ve heard”
ÐÐ “diving into harm’s way to save others, flying across the country to put out
a fire, driving for hours to bail out a flooded town”
ÐÐ “they are not just going to walk again, they are going to run and they are
going to run marathons”
ÐÐ “their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice and the chance to go
places they had never imagined for themselves”
ÐÐ “after so many struggles and triumphs and moments”
222 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

ÐÐ “your values and your vision and the life experiences that make you who
you are”
ÐÐ “our own choices about our bodies and our health care”
ÐÐ “so young, so in love, and so in debt”
ÐÐ “our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams”
ÐÐ “because of their sacrifice, and longing and steadfast love”
ÐÐ “My husband, our president, Barack Obama”

Non-verbal communication analysis

Non-verbal communication plays an essential role in delivering a speech,
as it has the potential to give salience to the message to be conveyed or,
quite on the contrary, to „hijack” the meaning that the speaker tries to
convey to the audience.
Firstly, we will refer to Michelle Obama’s dress code. The First Lady is
wearing a sleeveless silk dress, with a floral pattern, in pink and grey. As a
matter of fact, the President’s wife has accustomed her audience with outfits
that uncover her hands, which gives her a hint of femininity and emanates
optimism, openness and credibility.
Regarding the body language, we observe that the First Lady’s gestures
are in perfect harmony with the message she is trying to convey. She uses
gestures during almost the entire speech, yet the gestures she appeals to
are those which point her ideas, back her message, denoting easiness and
spontaneity in delivering the speech. Non-verbal communication indicates
that the speaker feels comfortable in front of the audience. One distinctive
gestures can be observed when speaking about her daughters; Michelle
crosses her hands on her chest, reflecting honesty and giving the impression
of a confession: “You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still
mom-in-chief. My — my — my daughters are — are still at the heart of my heart
and the center of my world”.
An element that emphasizes the optimism she releases when delivering
the speech is her smile, which she holds on to when she talks about the
American spirit, about Barack, about their families’ sacrifices, about hope
and progress of the United States. By contrast, there are sequences when
the First Lady expresses her worry towards her daughters or talks about
the difficulty of Obama’s economical measures. Thereby, the microexpres-
sions we can observe – raising the inner part of the eyebrows, lowering
her upper jaw, stretching the angle of the lips downwards – confirms the
authenticity of her words.
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 223
Symbolic and connotative analysis

The speech delivered by the First Lady during the Democratic National
Convention is a deeply customized one, that bets on the power of example.
By means of the personal examples she chooses to present to the audience,
Michelle Obama tries to justify several economical measures of the Pres-
ident, to emphasize the evolution of the United States of America during
his first presidential term and to give legitimacy to a new term serving the
US. Also, the First Lady portrays Obama as a political actor who is devot-
ed to his country, a political actor with vision, with backbone – who has
not hesitated to approach a delicate issue for fear of image capital loss –, a
faultless husband and father.
We consider that the introduction of the rhetorical performance of the
First Lady by Elaine Brye was a well-taught strategy element, the latter one
talking about the way in which she got there – following a letter she had send
to the First Lady, in which she thanks her for the interest she had shown for
those serving their country, Elaine is invited for a visit at the White House,
after which she gets the invitation of delivering a speech during the Conven-
tion. What makes Elaine Brye so special? She is a teacher from Ohio, mother
of four young men, members of the United States Armed Forces. In a fine,
yet strategic manner, her presence highlights Barack Obama’s achievements
in the area of diplomacy and fight against terrorism: “We are so grateful for
your family’s service and sacrifice. And we will always have your back”.
In another train of thoughts, during the entire speech, Michelle Obama
highlights the values and education instilled to the President since early
ages: “But see when — when Barack started telling me about his family, see now
that’s when I knew I’d found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing
were so much like mine”. Also, she sets family upon a pedestal and conveys
the idea that not the social status, but the role within the family defines the
individual as a person and prescribes the optimal course of action: “And let
me tell you something, I say all of this tonight, not just as a First Lady, no, not just as
a wife. You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still mom-in-chief”.
However, an idea which reflects the simplicity and the values that have
been instilled may be interpreted as having a negative underlying meaning,
in the sense that, even if she does not utter the name of Obama’s electoral
opponent, she suggests the contrast between the modest lifestyle in which
they were brought up and the luxuriant lifestyle in which Mitt Romney
grew up: “You see, Barack and I were both raised by families that did not have much
in the way of money or material possessions, but who had given us something far
more valuable: their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice and the chance
224 Delia Cristina Balaban/Ioan Hosu/Meda Mucundorfeanu (Eds.)

to go places they had never imagined for themselves”. Hence, we can infer that
the President can relate and can resonate more than his opponent with
the common American citizen. Thus, even if the speech is an apparently
non-political one, it presents an implicit contrast between the values and
life experience of Obama and those of Mitt Romney.
What is more, a central idea of the speech presents presidenship in
Obama’s case as a factor of potentianting, and not a perverting one: “Well
today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my
husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen first hand that being
president does not change who you are. No, it reveals who you are”.
Back to the theme of the speech, Michelle Obama emphasized the idea of
relentless effort as a recipe for success, while trying to justify a controversial
statement of her husband’s – You didn’t build that –, which had been exploited
by his political opponent, though the President was referring to the fact that
success is the resultant of past actions of several contributors: “[We learned]
That how hard you work matters more than how much you make. That helping
others means more than just getting ahead yourself. We learned about honesty and
integrity. That the truth matters. That you don’t take shortcuts or play by your
own set of rules. And success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square”.
In the same register – of relentless work – is the symbol of the Amer-
ican dream, which implies equal chances and opportunities for each and
every citizen. Also, the First Lady turns to profit the symbol of the nation
and invites the audience to exert their democratic right to vote and, thus,
contribute to the progress of the American society: “Barack knows the
American dream because he’s lived it. And he wants everyone in this country,
everyone to have the same opportunity no matter who we are or where we are
from or what we look like or who we love. And he believes that when you’ve
worked hard and done well and walk through that doorway of opportunity, you
do not slam it shut behind you. No, you reach back and you give other folks the
same chances that helped you succeed […] So today, when the challenges we face
start to seem overwhelming or even impossible, let us never forget that doing the
impossible is the history of this nation. It is who we are as Americans. It is how
this country was built”.
Eventually, Michelle Obama advocated for her husband’s vision and
invites the American nation to be responsible – by electing Barack Obama
– in order to achieve social progress and justice, rounding the discourse
off in a strategic manner, using the campaign slogan – Forward –: “[…] then
we must work like never before, and we must once again come together, and stand
together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward”.
 PR Trend. New Media: Challenges and Perspectives 225
Conclusions

The Democratic National Convention represents a new occasion for the

First Lady of America to display her oratorical qualities. Michelle Obama
manages to prove that she is essential image vehicle in Barack Obama’s
campaign. By the structure of the speech, but mostly by the rhetorical style
she uses, Michelle Obama is a chameleonic presence, in the sense that she
reveals herself under several states – as a mother, a daughter, a wife, First
Lady or a common citizen –, inseparable from one another.
The innovative strategic manner in which Michelle ties each and every
one of Obama’s political ideas to a personal story seems to have an extraor-
dinary impact on the audience, who – from what one can observe of the
non-verbal communication of those present –, resonates with her, approves
of and admires her. Also, she manages to generate alternative states of
mind: she induces the nostalgia of Barack’s grandmother’s efforts to offer
him a decent living, then she instills the hope of experiencing the American
dream; she speaks about the difficulty of decision making – decisions of
great impact –, then she promotes the optimism linked to Obama’s vision
on how economy, health care and education should look like.
In the context of a country in which the public is electrified by Kennedy’s
vision – “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country” –, such speeches, that appeal to the citizen’s sense of responsibility,
delivered by a charismatic figure, manage to achieve their goal. We think
that a competitive advantage of such a motivational speech consists of the
fact that it manages to instill an unfavourable feeling about the opponent,
even in the absence of direct references from the speaker.
We rest our case by launching the idea that Michelle Obama displays the
qualities of a great speaker, and to that effect, the American president may
have an authentic competition in his wife’s figure. Although to this moment
she has not yet manifested a position in favor of running for public office,
the First Lady has the configuration of a political actor and can become,
without a doubt, one of the world’s most powerful political female leaders.

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