Analyzing Bush's Stump Speech
Listen: <b>Web Extra:</b> Bush Speech Sept. 13, 2004, in Holland, Mich.
Listen: <b>Web Extra:</b> Kerry Speech Sept. 10, 2004, in Allentown, Pa.
President Bush speaks at a campaign rally in Holland, Mich., Sept. 13, 2004.
President Bush speaks at a campaign rally in Holland, Mich., Sept. 13, 2004.
President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are using every political tool at their disposal in this campaign: ads, surrogates, the Internet, the nominating conventions, and the most traditional tool of all -- the stump speech. NPR's Mara Liasson, who reported earlier on Kerry's basic stump speech, looks at a typical campaign speech from the president.
Liasson calls President Bush's stump speech "a rehearsed, polished and very consistent performance full of crowd-pleasing lines that help him cultivate an image of someone who says what he means and means what he says."
Bush's speech is delivered in a plain-spoken conversational style, thick with a Texas twang. "He is at the center of a kind of old-fashioned political ritual," says Peter Robinson, a former speechwriter for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. "He keeps his own lines simple and he keeps them country."
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.