Testing

Yes the election is over, yet the political ads are still out there and what better source of rhetoric than a video trying to convince about three hundred million people to vote for one man to be their president. I'm using this political ad from the Obama Biden campaign to practice detecting methods of persuasion.

The Needs Test
My interests are having a job in a few years and not having to worry about money. It appears from this video that Obama cares about the American worker and believes in helping him or her continue to work. Sounds about right, our interests line up.

Checking the Extremes
The opposition in this case is the Republican party, and members of that party are described as having "turned their backs" on the American workers. A direct example is even cited of Mitt Romney wanting to "let detroit go bankrupt". It is described as an extreme, turning your back on something can be seen as an extreme action, but then this claim is backed up with evidence... So does it count as calling something extreme and therefore calling itself extreme? I see governor Romney's comment as extreme, because it does sound very extreme. But by doing that do I turn myself into an extremist? Things to ponder.

That Depends
This is a tough one to apply here because he's focusing on one issue in particular. He doesn't say "that depends" anywhere, but shows that he can respond appropriately and successfully to at least one issue. Nowhere does he say how he would respond to a different issue in similar circumstances, but nor does he say that this is the one way to fix everything. So this test isn't really applicable here.

Comparable Experience
Well, the persuader in this case doesn't exactly show an example from his real life. He is not an American worker in the auto industry. But in a way I can see how he does; the whole video is an example of Obama's life because it shows how he handled the situation successfully. But then again it's not exactly a comparable experience because not many people get the chance to be president of the USA. Another one to ponder because of the uniqueness of the situation.

and last but not least,
Sussing
The persuader here definitely cut straight to the chase of the issue. From the first words of the video he is talking about the issue at hand, and he stays on that one topic for the entire video. It is concise and comprehendible, the persuader doesn't try to cram too many things into one video. He keeps it short, sweet and to the point.