For the p[purposes of Aristotle's definitions, I submit that this piece of rhetoric is representative of pathos on behalf of the audience and logos on behalf of the campaign itself. The widget has been popping up over a variety of websites I frequent (I took this screenshot from Tumblr) and clearly the response from the internet has been one of derision that Romney "doesn't want" their vote, while Obama is reaching out for it. I suspect that the Obama campaign wanted exactly this reaction, to encourage young voters to come out in unprecedented numbers for this election.
I definitely see opposites in this piece, although they are unspoken, that the Obama campaign is looking where the Romney campaign will not for voters.
Topic eight also applies (from varied meanings), although discreetly. The message is innocuous enough that even a young voter from a conservative household would find it benign and unassuming, because the alternative is to suggest that it should not be easy to register to vote and, at least externally, that is not an opinion anyone wants to tie their name to.
Overall, I like this piece of rhetoric for its unassuming nature and excellent message. Vote on, America!
Topic eight also applies (from varied meanings), although discreetly. The message is innocuous enough that even a young voter from a conservative household would find it benign and unassuming, because the alternative is to suggest that it should not be easy to register to vote and, at least externally, that is not an opinion anyone wants to tie their name to.
Overall, I like this piece of rhetoric for its unassuming nature and excellent message. Vote on, America!
In this context, Mary, it's worth remembering that the politics around voter registration has been changing in this election, and in many states it's actually becoming harder and harder, because of new laws, to run drives that get people registered quickly and on-site. So when Obama puts up things like this, he also is playing to the rising tide of questions being raised about things like voter ID laws and other newly forming expectations that some are arguing (I admit that I have been one of these people - full disclosure) are deliberately targeting populations that tend to favor Obama. This election we can expect a lot of conversation about these ID laws, which the Republicans will call innocuous and the Democrats will suggest are manipulative. (The Republicans purged thousands of voters from Florida registers - many wrongly - before the 2000 election, something that still rankles most Democrats).
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