Rhetorical Precis: 9-25-12

Rhetorical Précis: “Mitt Romney runs campaign like the CEO he was…”

            (1) Journalists Kasie Hunt and Phillip Elliot, in their article, “Mitt Romney runs campaign like the CEO he was; critics worry he’s doing too much” (2012) assert that the republican candidate is overly involved in his own promotion, leading to responsibility confusions that ultimately hinder his campaign. (2) The authors back up this allegation by citing Mitt Romney’s numerous social blunders, confusing political jargon, and over-generalizations of the American people. (3) Hunt and Elliot’s purpose is to demonstrate that Mitt Romney’s CEO background hinders his leadership, in order to convince their audience that he is possibly a less favorable presidential candidate because of it. (4) They establish a formal and knowledgeable tone through factual evidence and sophisticated language that is well suited to their audience of modern adult readers.

            The authors seek to convince their audience with specific events and direct statements from Romney. As with nearly every political article, it is impossible to remove all bias from the piece. However, Hunt and Elliot do a good job of explaining both negative and positive opinions on Romney’s actions, including his own defense. They also keep the article from becoming blatantly in opposition to Romney, which one might expect when it is centered on his faults; their coverage includes the benefits of Mitt Romney’s CEO background as well as his past business successes. I found the article to be truthful and especially convincing because of its simultaneous readability and sophisticated tone.

Work Cited

Hunt, Kasie, and Phillip Elliot. "Mitt Romney runs campaign like the CEO he was; critics worry he's doing too much." www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 22 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-mitt-romney-runs-campaign-like-the-ceo-he-was-critics-warn-be-a-candidate-instead/2012/09/22/e1e69ad6-0483-11e2-9132-f2750cd65f97_story_1.html>.

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