"People like Others Who Smile a lot While Standing Next to Barns"

If Aristotle lived in Montana, this statement would have surely been presented under his topics of kindness and friendly feeling, so as not to leave any stone unturned, and since he fancies himself to be the "Appropriator of all Possibilities, Ever." I like to imagine him adding, "If the speaker owns a piece of farm equipment, broken or otherwise, it would be an added touch, and advantageous for his purposes, if he could make it apparent that he owns one; for all Montanans relate to, and find virtue in farm equipment -- and broken stuff that needs fixin'."

Exhibit A:

Aristotle's presumptuousness and imagined comprehensiveness aside, Tester is fully using to his advantage the praise-creating force of epideitic rhetoric, though he disguises it by using an implied premise of healthful apathy to instill into the thoughts of voters, an enthymeme:

 "Montanans don't care which party gets the credit or the blame, that's why I'm focused on doing what's right for Montana."

In saying this, he immediately absolves himself from any charge of misusing rhetoric and epideitic speech to sway the public opinion. He isn't playing the praise and blame bi-partisan game; he's in it to do what's right, and to pursue the needs of the people.

 For the purpose of getting more votes he tries to portray himself as the "once-was-blind-but-now-I-see" politician, who moved from the corrupt world of Washington politics to gain a new "perspective" and appreciation for his fellow Montanans. He becomes a more trustworthy figure for his audience, and removes himself from the political pedestal. He cares about rifles, smiles at barns, and likes hokey country-western music as much as the next guy. Though in my opinion, his folksy intro at relating to the public is a terrible failure as he states what is readily obvious to almost anyone with a brain:

"The combine doesn't care if you're a senator. It breaks down when it wants to break down."

How's that for enlightened perspective?

In terms of pathos, Tester tries to create friendly feelings among his voters. He says he shares the concerns of every Montanan and wants to create companionship, and not for any personal agenda. He also inspires a feeling of kindliness by being the voice of the people and setting up an Us and Them mentality. Through stating his disillusion with the social bureaucrats, showing warm, familiar, rural landscape, attacking the wealthy on Wall Street, and returning to a back to basics type of platform, Tester tries to mask the line between ruler and ruled.