<p>How does rhetorical style influence audiences, particularly audiences reading, viewing, or listening to messages about political controversies? Scholars in rhetoric and argumentation have recognized the ongoing need to analyze, evaluate, and improve the rhetoric that constitutes, enacts, cultivates, and degrades political decision-making. Leading linguistically-oriented accounts of how rhetorical style influences audiences feature the use of stylistic choices that trigger inferences in socio-cultural and cognitive contexts. I submit that a normative pragmatic approach adds to these accounts by explaining how rhetorical style amplifies presumptive inferences and cultivates a normative context. To make the case, I first explain how I am using the phrase “rhetorical style.” Second, I describe a normative pragmatic approach to the question of how rhetorical style influences audiences. Third, I illustrate the account by analyzing two U.S. Presidential campaign ads that use sounds and images to frighten viewers into voting. I conclude with implications for analyzing, assessing, and cultivating normative contexts for political argumentation.</p>