When watching Bush’s first speech after the attack, my roommate and I noticed he very methodically employed the famous Clinton “magic button” gesture… You know… where he sticks out his fist so that it looks like he’s pushing a button whenever he wants to drive a point home… We both laughed and thought that was weird…
Now I open up cnn.com and the picture for the main story (this one if it hasn’t changed yet), and what do you know… he’s at it again.
Did anybody use this before Clinton? Or is Bush’s P.R. team just out of original ideas and decided to try a move that seemed to work for another president?
This was sort of discussed in a GQ recently. Basically, the “button push” move is used by a lot of politicians, but is associated with Clinton because presidents get a lot of exposure.
Somewhere, some image guru found out that the button push is a way of looking emphatic without looking confrontational or threatening. Pointing a finger tends to look more confrontational, so they developed the button push to get the “emphatic but nice” message across.
I wonder if Bush has a speech impediment? Maybe a stutter? He speaks rather slowly, stumbles on words, and draws out his esses. Could the slow pace and drawn esses be a tool to avoid becoming “tongue-tied”? Maybe his thoughts are trying to get out faster than his mouth can move, so he slows down deliberately?
I remember from my Speech class that there are gestures that are commonly used as visual clues to what’s being said. For example, pounding the fist on the table is for driving the words home. Holding up a finger is used to focus the audience on the point being made. Spreading the hands means “I know you may not agree with me, but this is the truth.” A flat hand moving down toward the table is signalling that something is being, well, “laid on the table” so the audience can “see and evaluate” it. Holding the thumb and forefinger an inch apart is saying, “Here, look at (hear) this particular small bit of information.”
How did this gesture work for Clinton? Remember all the SNL skits that parodied his use of this move, coupled with the
impertinent-grin-to-serious-caring-face quick change, and the tongue poking out of the mouth, indicating the concentration it must have required to convince anyone that he actually gave a shit what he was talking about?
Those Darryl Hammond bits were priceless!
Bush’s strong suit is not public speaking. He doesnt have the insincere finesse, the fine acting skills of Bill Clinton-for those of you who actually bought that guy.
But he seems to be getting a little better. Trial by fire-
I guess-this event has been a crash course. It seems to me that he does much better when he speaks from his mind. He flubs up when he follows speeches.
At any rate, I thought for the most part it was a damn good speech.
Oh-Kaje-one more thing… I really doubt Bush’s PR team would try to nab ANYTHING from Clinton’s m.o.!
Unless their objective was to make Bush look like a buffoon, as you said. Clinton was always first-rate at doing that!
Oh-was it just me, or was anyone else envisioning some crooked DC postal worker out there getting excited about how much cash he could skim, after Bush told American kids to send their dollar bills to the White House? DOH!
Dont know if that was completely thought out. Of course,
NO OFFENSE to postal workers, I’m kinda just joking, but still-asking people on national TV to send cash thru the mail, to a specific address? Hmmmmmmm… !!!
“I am not as great a fool as you think.”
“You couldn’t be.”
Personally, I’d rather have his father in the Oval Office. Having worked in secure environments, I have some respect for people who have worked in the Intelligence community.
I’m curious about the “leak” he was so upset about the other day. I didn’t catch what was leaked, but I know that secret data is secret. I understand that Congress need to know certain things, but if they can’t keep it to themselves then they should not be given the information. On the other hand, leaks are a way of letting out information that you want the opposition to know. Or mis-information. Could have been a strategic move.
“If more than one person knows it, it isn’t a secret.”
Whoops…
preview.preview.preview.
Meant to say that Clinton was always good at looking like a buffoon. Not that he was good at making Bush look like a buffoon! Although it’s an amusing mistake…
again, DOH!
Yep!
Bush’s team is obviously not learning from history!
Maybe Bush will get suspended from TV for a week too?
I know it can’t be true, but I really wondered for a few seconds if he just threw that in. It didnt sound very “planned” --was kinda random…
