Consider the speech given by President Barack Obama before a joint session of Congress Thursday evening along with the one Sarah Palin gave at a Tea Party rally in Indianola, Iowa, the Saturday before. President Obama, a gifted orator, delivered his “jobs plan” with eloquence, passion and determination. Still, even with sweeteners intended to attract Republican support, it set forth the same failed ideas he’s pursued for the previous 961 days. Sarah Palin, with her high-pitched voice and quirky Alaskan pronunciation of certain words, “delivered a devastating indictment of the entire U.S. political establishment—left, right and center—and pointed toward a way of transcending the presently unbridgeable political divide.” (More)
Filed under: Palin, Politics, The Presidency, Alaska, Alaskan pronunciation, Anand Giridharadas, big corporations, big government, candidates for president, corporate crony capitalism, Ed Ross, ewross, Gov. Palin, Indianola, indianola-iowa, Iowa, jobs plan, joint session of Congress, Keynesian economics, Mama grizzly, New York Times, obama orator, permanent political class, political establishment, political oratory, republican, Republicans in Congress, rhetoric, sarah palin, stimulus, tale of two speeches, tea party, the Palin paradigm, United States, Washington D.C.
I think there should be a question mark at the end of this statement, “Obama, a gifted orator?” I’ve listened to his speeches, and I’ve watched him give them, the man can’t speak without that annoying teleprompter, making him look like he’s watching a tennis match. When the prompter goes down, he stops, dead in his tracks. That tells me 3 things: 1) he didn’t write the speech, and probably had little input in it, 2) that he didn’t even bother to practice the speech before hand, 3) that he doesn’t even know enough about the subject of the speech to continue on without the prompter. He also frequently mispronounces common words, such as corpseman instead of corpsman, and misstates historical fact such as the other day he claimed Lincoln founded the republican party, which every school kid should have been able to catch.
On the other hand, Palin has rarely given a speech using a teleprompter, relying exclusively on notes or just bullet points, which makes her a far better speaker.
You pointed out that Obama’s oratory got him noticed and promoted. That explains why he continues to think that what is needed is another speech since it worked before. He wins points for elocution but not substance.
The more I learn of Palin, the more I respect her.
Learning more about Obama tends to have the opposite effect.
Thanks Ed for an excellent article. “…I’d like to see a contest between President Obama and Gov. Palin…” that won’t be a contest Ed, Sarah will hand Obama his lunch.
“…We tend to prefer candidates that don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco…”
Obama and The ‘Cuda – game on!
Sarah Palin -
“So, this is why we must remember that the challenge is not simply to replace Obama in 2012. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country..”
If Palin does decide to run for president, this message won’t play well with large corporate donors.–
You’re assuming that large corporate donors enjoy having to run their business and shell out money for lobbyists to kiss rear end in DC. Whatever favors they get don’t come cheap.
The successful institutions will likely not have a problem with it.
LinkedIn Group: Center for a New American Security
Discussion: A TALE OF TWO SPEECHES: OBAMA ORATORY VS. THE PALIN PARADIGM
“It was the best of speeches, it was the worst of speeches.” Forgive my attempt to continue the Charles Dickens theme, but this editorial suggests the side-by-side comparison of these two speeches. As a former speechwriter, I find our President delivers remarks that are continually eloquent and thoughtful. I also find Ms. Palin’s remarks to be continually trite and inarticulate. This is not to infer that either has a better message, but I have found that a gracefully worded speech will stand the test of time far better than words captured from a spontaneously styled speech once the transcripts are published.
That said, I’ll read Ms. Palin’s transcript, but I “betcha” opinions will not be swayed. Leaders at the national level, at the end of the day, must be able to effectively write and communicate and the professional media knows this.
Posted by Paul Olsen, P.E.
LinkedIn Group: Conservatives of America
Discussion: A TALE OF TWO SPEECHES: OBAMA ORATORY VS. THE PALIN PARADIGM
Another great article, Ed. Well done.
I think I mentioned before, Palin’s biggest negative among constitutional conservatives is her affiliation with and praise for John McCain. I know he is partially responsible for her prominence on the political stage, but beyond helping to get her noticed, he has not done her any favors.
I really believe Ms. Palin has what it takes to be a great chief executive and she’s entirely believable. Unfortunately, and I believe specifically because she IS so believable and effective, she terrifies the left. That is the very reason MSM are so engaged in her destruction.
Keep up the good work Ed.
Posted by George Daggett
LinkedIn Group: Republican Party
Discussion: A TALE OF TWO SPEECHES: OBAMA ORATORY VS. THE PALIN PARADIGM
You know Ed, I’m not crazy about either of these two and their speeches. Obama sounds good from the teleprompter, but you get ZERO feeling that he has any real conviction or passion about it. He has gotten to be like my audio system. I hit the PLAY button and sound comes out.
Sarah sounded great at the Repub convention when in 2008. Now 3 years later, what is her point? It doesn’t appear she’s going to run since she has no apparent organization. I hear the conviction and passion, but she seems like a person who just keeps talking as long as the money keeps coming in.
good piece.
Posted by Mark Balinski
Like your work. Well written thanks