Barrack Obama's 2004 keynote speech delivered at the Democratic National Convention in Boston,

Massachusetts is a rhetorical masterpiece that highlights the success of masterful incorporation of

rhetorical devices sans sounding grandiloquent.

While the speech employs a variety of rhetorical styles, the speech heavily relies on Lincolnian tropes to
captivate the attention of his audience as a means of furthering his agenda—support for the Democratic
party president and vice president John Kerry and John Edwards, respectively. As a foreground to the
discussion, Abraham Lincoln is the epitome of effective speech delivery and rhetoric aimed towards
evoking a sense of thought among the masses.

Obama's speech revolved around the premise of the embodiment of American ideals to achieve
progress. His life was not, in any means, mediocre, especially for senatorial standards. Knowing this, he
portrayed a narrative of progression and inclusion throughout his speech as a means of shared thought,
a tactic employed by earlier politicians, most notably Abraham Lincoln, as exemplified in his Gettysburg
address which employs a similar tactic. Their speeches revolved around the same thing: America as a
bastion of unity, liberty, equality, and progress. In fact, he makes it obvious that his speech is heavily
inspired by Lincoln by referring America as a "land of Lincoln," implying that he embodies his ideals. He
furthers this by incorporating his experience as a first-generation immigrant as a subject of such
narrative in order to portray America as a "magical place" that has the capacity to secure the welfare of
those who deserve it. The portrayal of America as a wonderland for everyone who deserves to step on
its land is a trope that is used throughout the speech.

Even the flow of the speech evokes parallelism between the two politicians, starting with the
foreground of the premise, a recount of the current situation, and a call for action. While obviously