Targeting women voters: The use of Aristotle's enthymeme in modern politics.

摘要

An enthymeme is a persuasive argument in which a part is omitted and left to an audience to complete. When politicians use enthymemes, they rely on audiences to complete their arguments.;In the last 20 years, a gender gap has emerged revealing that men and women vote differently. Also, women vote more often than men and have been powerful forces in local and national elections. Thus, women must be addressed as an independent voting bloc.;Given the ability of the enthymeme to connect with audiences and politicians' needs to garner support from women voters, it is no surprise that George W. Bush and Al Gore used enthymemes in the 2000 presidential election to target women.;This analysis of enthymemes in speeches by Bush and Gore reveals that the best way to identify with and target women voters is to use enthymemes based on specific issues.