Political speechwriting is an exercise in the proper arrangement of cliches and platitudes, with a bit of messaging of policy ideas to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Speeches like the one the president will deliver tonight are designed to deliver pleasant inanities (The State of the Union is Strong) and sell certain carefully audience-tested proposals as vaguely (or misleadingly) as possible. The State of the Union is less written than it is designed, structured and organized around applause prompts and camera cues. ___ Modern speechwriters are certainly not doing anything comparable to writing deathless fiction about the realities of the American experience, because it would be weird if a politician delivered stark observations on the human condition instead of trying to make himself appear more acceptable than his political opponents to people who pay attention to presidential speeches once a year. Tonights State of the Union might be an effective speech, but it definitely wont be a good one.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:30:32 +0000
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