This week’s RCL post asked us to find and analyze a bumper sticker with a pithy statement that advances a particular viewpoint. After scrolling through several images of bumper stickers, I settled on this one. This bumper sticker draws attention to the political situation of the United States and calls the American people to action by voting in the upcoming elections. 

With just a simple glance at this bumper sticker, the sticker is drawing attention to the divide between the Democrat and Republican parties within the American political system. In fact, the sticker is implying that Democrats are the superior political group and encourages the viewers of the sticker to adopt similar beliefs

The sticker’s main goal is to influence viewers to vote in favor of the Democratic party. Through the word choice and comparisons to driving a car, the sticker emphasizes the idea that Democratic party has more progressive ideas and beliefs that will allow the country to move forward, similarly to a car in drive.

On the contrary, the stickers suggest that an individual’s choice to vote for the Republican party will hinder the progress that the nation has made and set the United States back in the goal of progressing in moving forward. This message is conveyed again through word choice and comparison as the sticker reads “To go backward, choose R”. Thus, the sticker says that if one wants to undo the progress that has been made, vote for the Republican party.

The sticker also assumes that all of the policies passed by the Democratic party will lead to the progression and advancement of the entire nation. The sticker also implies that the only way for the United States to continue to advance is under the power of the Democratic Party, which can only be made possible from the votes of the American people.  

The sticker also acknowledges that voting for the Republican party will lead the country backwards, forcing us to regress. It is common knowledge that the condition of the United States several years ago is not an experience that many would choose to return back to. The past was an undesirable time where large groups of the population faced discrimination and had their rights stripped away. The sticker suggests again that a vote for the Republican Party is a vote in favor of returning back to the previously undesirable conditions of the United States. 

All in all, the bumper sticker does a good job at encouraging its viewers to vote in favor of the Democratic Party and the progression of the country as a whole. The sticker is effective in doing this through the implied common understanding of conditions in the US in the past and the analogy created between voting and driving cars.