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___In the upcoming 2012 Ohio Senate Race incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown and his re-election campaign has begun running a very clever ad titled, “Both from Ohio.” In the above 30 second YouTube video, Senator Brown stands next to the new Chevy Cruze and advocates that he has “fought to rescue the American auto industry when some were ready to let those jobs vanish.” In the video he appears with a shiny new red Chevrolet Cruze and claims (the datum) he helped protect 848,000 Ohio jobs.
In the ad, Senator Brown lists off the different cities in Ohio where the various pieces are manufactured. Here’s the ad’s transcript:
Sherrod Brown – “I’m Sherrod Brown, and this is a Chevy Cruze, we’re both from Ohio.
The engine block is made in Defiance. The aluminum wheels, Cleveland.
The transmission from Toledo. And its all assembled in Lordstown.
I’m proud to have led the fight to pass the Auto Rescue Package. Helping to protect more than 800,000 Ohio jobs. I approved this message because no matter what you drive, that’s something we can all be proud of.”
Narrator: “Sherrod Brown. He is fighting for Ohio”
___The warrant of the political advertisement is pretty simple. Senator Brown is fighting to keep jobs in Ohio and the Cruze is a direct example of his efforts. According to Factcheck.org’s May piece on the substance of the campaign ads leveled between Senator Brown and his challenger, Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel there has been quite a large array of untrue allegations. While Political Fact Ohio, has also issued numerous checks on the different campaign advertisements further research shows this is indeed a factual piece.
___The ad does not even mention Mandel and specifically heralds the achievements of Ohio’s auto industry. One interesting side-note, involves the integrity of the Chevys manufactured in the last couple of years in Ohio. Back in June of 2012, General Motors recalled 475,418 of its Chevrolet Cruze sedans that were built at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant from September 2012 through May 2012. The sedans were recalled to “modify the under-engine shield so flammable liquids are not trapped in the engine compartment.” Taking this into consideration, it does not change that General Motors is building cars in Ohio.
___Ultimately, the rhetoric of the ad is positive and points more at the candidate’s voting record on the Auto Industry Bailout. The campaign ad specifically uses logos with images of the candidate interacting with the car and its various parts. In giant words across the screen we see (the claim) the number of auto industry jobs “saved,” accompanied by upbeat music throughout the ad. At the end, the viewer is left with Senator Brown driving off with a close-up of the Sherrod Brown for Senate bumper sticker. The presentation and infusion of the Chevy Cruze plays into powerful rhetoric seen often this campaign season that the Democratic party is “moving forward” as seen quite literally in this car political advertisement.
What do you think about the Brown campaign advertisement? Any thoughts?
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Philosophical Swag 
I like the fact you fact checked! Your rhetorical analysis contains lots of details that support your point. I agree that the “data” are the number of cars made, where they were made, the number of jobs, and so on, but I think the “claim” is unstated but something like “therefore, vote for Brown because he puts Ohio jobs first.” (and this is nearly stated). I agree that the warrant is something like “a senator who puts Ohio jobs first is doing a good job.”
I really enjoyed your analysis of this ad, you made good points about what kind of appeal the senator was trying to make. I think that it is interesting to think about this ad in relation to the superbowl chrysler ad, what makes this a political ad and chrysler’s a car ad? Neither one ask you to buy a car but one it voiced over by a political canidate and one by an actor. It is interesting to think about how these types of ads are blending genres
You bring up a good point. I wonder how much of Cruze’s parts are manufactured from China and Mexico? Indeed, Sherrod Brown seems to be putting forth a decent effort to show Ohioans his good intentions. But, surrounding his entire campaign around his involvement with a Chevy advertisement, ahem, vehicle, seems to be a bit of a rhetorical stretch!
I like that you made note of the ad’s attention to the auto industry and not Brown’s opponent. I think it adds credibility since he is solely trying to focus on the positive.
I like the amount of detail that you went into with your rhetorical analysis. I agree with you on what the “data” was, but it seemed to me that you kinda skipped over the claim.