Paul Ryan's pitch

I just watched Paul Ryan’s health care proposal. I suppose whether it was successful or not is still yet to be determined. How his pitch is going to be received will be very interesting over the next few days. I understand that the Affordable Care Act is resulting in certain individuals having higher premiums yet at the same time others are able to get health care for the first time because they did not have it before because they could not afford it. I suppose how one is going to receive this pitch is very political and largely based upon self interest. Which receivers have had their premiums go up are likely to receive it well, because they were the one’s who wish to have Obama Care repealed and replaced. But on the other side, there are those who are happy with the ACA because they now have better access to health care or even just have access to health care that they didn’t have before.

In the Walker textbook, the first “Channel Considerations” that is listed is “Inspiring and motivating others.” The question is…did Paul Ryan inspire all of his audience or just his base? While he laid out some basic economic principals, the presentation was still overly filled with destroying Obama Care and less focused on the specifics of the plan. While this is all very political and hard to determine, and how you are to receive this message is based upon self-interest. How did Obama Care effect you the audience member. I feel that Paul Ryan’s treatment probably appealed greatly to audience members whose premiums went up under Obama Care, but I feel that he failed to appeal to the other side of this issue. But the question is, with such a labyrinth that health care is…can he, could he, or will this issue just swap back to the other side once another party takes over Congress. We all know that appealing to disinterested audiences is key to persuasion.

If we are to judge Paul Ryan’s presentation based upon appealing to those who like Obama Care, I have to say that he failed. If we judge Paul Ryan by his ability to appeal to his base and those individuals whose cost went up, then he was a resounding success.

Walker, Robyn (2015) . Strategic Management Communication for Leaders . 3rd Ed . Cengage Learning . Stamford, CT . 2015