Spencer Platt, Getty Images. “Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden discusses his economic policy Thursday at McGregor Industries in Dunmore, Pa.” https://www.npr.org/2020/07/09/889347429/biden-counters-trumps-america-first-with-build-back-better-economic-plan.
“BUILD BACK BETTER.” Joe Biden’s campaign slogan for the 2020 Presidential election caught the attention of many voters and helped him to secure the title of 46th President of the United States of America. This alliterative slogan emerged while COVID-19 was a hot button topic in political conversation and revealed Biden’s intentions concerning pandemic policy and action. How did Biden’s plans for national recovery from the pandemic differ from Donald Trump’s, and how were they superior?
“Build Back Better” relies on three key persuasive concepts: exigence, occasion, and group ideology. These ideas rely on the lenses of rhetorical situation, genre studies, and commonplaces.
For the slogan to make sense, an exigence must be established. Otherwise, what would be the context of the slogan, and what would the country “build back” from? In this case, the exigence is the COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2020 Presidential election. The public was concerned with the validity and importance of masking regulations, vaccines, and economic recovery, as well as who would become the next president.
Although a main purpose of Biden’s campaign slogan was to exhibit his political stances, the slogan also served as a response to Donald Trump’s “Keep America Great” slogan. Biden’s slogan reveals that Trump believes that America does not currently need to undergo any changes. Especially considering the exigence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current state of American life, Biden uses this contrast to persuade the American people that he should become the next president.
Biden also relies on his audience’s knowledge of commonplaces to make a persuasive argument. For the American people, “build back” evokes the popular concepts of the American Dream and individualism. The American people were very familiar with the idea of “building,” whether it be new lives, new businesses, or a better America.
Ultimately, Biden’s slogan persuaded the American people, and Biden became the new President of the United States. This slogan serves as an example that even relatively small civic artifacts can employ rhetorical devices and have a huge impact on the audience. The analysis of this slogan and others within American politics can reveal important information regarding politician’s agendas and the concerns of the American people.