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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group
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To: FaultLine who wrote (71054)2/2/2003 6:05:28 PM
From: Win Smith  Read Replies (1) of 281500
 
The Speech That Turns Mere Presidents Into Talk Show Hosts nytimes.com

Faultline:

She continued, "Is he talking in code to the 'true believers'?"

I indicated that every tiny phrase is crafted in an address of this importance so, it's possible...

From the article:

After Mr. Reagan, there would be no more sentences like that one. Now the president's object is to characterize his program in stirring terms that make a coded appeal to his own constituents, but that are vague enough to land with the television audience and command a deferential reception by the opposing party's members, who are obliged by the rules of the genre to respect the pretense of a direct address.

It makes for a strange exercise, like a political Simon Says, as the opposition tries to decide whether to respond politely to the superficially bland appeals of the address or more truculently to their coded messages.

Safire, who knows a thing or two about the drill:

I am duty-bound to read and weigh these speeches, as well as position papers and public stands of other candidates as they come down the exploratory-committee chute. You can learn a lot by reading speeches: they tell you what the candidate really thinks, or what he thinks he should appear to think, or how adept he is at attracting and being able to pay for good thinkers, pollsters and writers. I'll study those respectfully before asking to see him. nytimes.com

Me: I think people around here take W's speeches way too seriously. Like the parade of punditry, it's mostly political theater.
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