Bush: "give me the power" vs. Dean: "You have the power"

Anna Private presents an interesting contrast between the rhetorical styles of George W. Bush and Howard Dean. She bases her argument on this excellent analysis of Bush's use of rhetoric by Renana Brooks Put simply, Bush is all about scaring people into surrendering their will to an all-encompassing daddy who will protect them from the bad things of the world while Dean is all about empowering people to work together to solve the problems that we all face. In order for Dean to win he has to convince the majority of the electorate that the latter vision is a more viable path for the future of this nation. Simply saying that the people have the power won't work if the people don't trust themselves to wield the power correctly. This is how Bush wins: by playing to people's fears of their own inadequacy.