Are you watching the State of the Union address ?

[RockPride]

It was good, though I normally only half pay attention to the live coverage, it has so much more impact to read it the following day.

[Frances Bavier]

I nearly wrecked the truck when I heard him say "global climate change." I honestly didn't think he had it in him.

 

I absolutely LOVE the new avatar, Schueman. LOVE it.

 

 

Frances

[Jim Schue]

I absolutely LOVE the new avatar, Schueman. LOVE it.

 

 

Frances

 

Thanks! It's approaching the two-year anniversary of his death, so I figured I'd trot it out for a while since football season is over.

[HHSDad]

Missed the State of the Union, but I caught Jim Webb's address.

[Frances Bavier]

Missed the State of the Union, but I caught Jim Webb's address.

 

I realize that you might not embrace some of Webb's political stances, but I would ask what you thought of his assessment of the State of the Union address?

 

 

Frances

[shooter]

Yeah, I think 'ol George put one in the win column tonight. I've listened to all 6 he's delivered now, and I'd say he's 3-3.

 

 

Bush's reputation as a poor public speaker has been largely earned because of his performance during comptemporaneous speeches. For speeches that Bush has had plenty of time to prepare, he is much better than his reputation.

[HHSDad]

I realize that you might not embrace some of Webb's political stances, but I would ask what you thought of his assessment of the State of the Union address?

 

 

Frances

I thought Webb was a great choice. I thought his speech was well written and well delivered. It was short and concise. And for once, it gave the oppositions view without slinging mud. The biggest problem I have with Webb and it came out somewhat in his speech, is that while he is opposed to Iraq, he thought Vietnam was a justified and well fought war; a view that is held by few people today.

[panther15z30]

Bush's reputation as a poor public speaker has been largely earned because of his performance during comptemporaneous speeches. For speeches that Bush has had plenty of time to prepare, he is much better than his reputation.

He is a much better speaker than he is given credit for that is for sure.

[Frances Bavier]

I thought Webb was a great choice. I thought his speech was well written and well delivered. It was short and concise. And for once, it gave the oppositions view without slinging mud. The biggest problem I have with Webb and it came out somewhat in his speech, is that while he is opposed to Iraq, he thought Vietnam was a justified and well fought war; a view that is held by few people today.

 

I agree completely with your analysis of Webb's speech.

 

I will add that I did like the fact that Webb left no question that Congress will give Bush an opportunity to extract us from Iraq (according to the will of the majority of the people), and that if he doesn't, then Congress will.

 

 

 

Frances

[Jim Schue]

Bush's reputation as a poor public speaker has been largely earned because of his performance during comptemporaneous speeches. For speeches that Bush has had plenty of time to prepare, he is much better than his reputation.

 

In other words, he's a parrot.

[Frances Bavier]

In other words, he's a parrot.

 

I would have used the term "coachable", but I'll go with yours...

 

 

Frances

[shooter]

In other words, he's a parrot.

 

Funny line.

 

 

IMHO, when delivering State of the Union speeches Bush has done a better job then Bill Clinton. I wonder how Bill feels about being bested by a parrot.

[Frances Bavier]

Funny line.

 

 

IMHO, when delivering State of the Union speeches Bush has done a better job then Bill Clinton. I wonder how Bill feels about being bested by a parrot.

 

I have to say that you are one of the very few people that I have ever heard try to favorably compare Bush to Clinton in terms of their speaking abilities.

 

Not even close.

 

Clinton and Reagan were the top of the heap.

 

Bush is somewhere in the bottom third or less.

 

 

Frances

[shooter]

I have to say that you are one of the very few people that I have ever heard try to favorably compare Bush to Clinton in terms of their speaking abilities.

 

Not even close.

 

Clinton and Reagan were the top of the heap.

 

Bush is somewhere in the bottom third or less.

 

 

Frances

 

Find someone with a copy of one of Bill Clinton's state of the union speeches and watch it again. After you wakeup you might change your mind about. No doubt Clinton is a much, much better public speaker than Bush in general. However, Clinton had some real snoozers for State of the Union Messages. In general Clinton performs much better when he's improvising than when he has plenty of time to prepare.

 

Bush = horrible off-the-cuff, respectable for prepared speeches.

Clinton = outstanding off-the-cuff, boring and long-winded for SOTU speeches

[shooter]

A Comparison of Presidents and the Average Length of their State of the Union Messages.

 

Bill Clinton holds the record for a single SOTU speech with 9,190 words in 1995