Ethos

The State of the Union Address is a formal event. It's sort of like prom for old, rich, mostly white people.

The president doesn't want to cause a stir on his (or her) biggest night of the year, so you don't see a lot of fist pumping and yelling during most Addresses…unless it's coming from the audience. But the president does try to sway people, and create an agenda. Clinton's speech uses repeated "calls" and "challenges," directed toward Congress and other groups, to buttress this ethical agenda.

At times the president's ethical appeals can sound borderline cliché. Clinton says:

[…] we must be bound together by a faith more powerful than any doctrine that divides us, by our belief in progress, our love of liberty, and our relentless search for common ground. (93.3)

Although this moves toward eye-rolling territory, it's necessary for the president to strike an all-inclusive tone, especially in a time of such political division. Teamwork, after all, is one of the principles of the Democratic Party. Too bad he couldn't just pull out a guitar and lead everyone in camp songs.