Clinton was president in 1992? 
That’s cool, Lib. I wasn’t trying to paint you as a Randroid-- just speculating about very right-leaning folks’ impressions in general.
Especially with such a close divide, I think it’s important for these guys to try to talk over the fence, and I’m pretty sure that missteps on that tact are harder to spot if your usual ideology is wide of the target audience. Blind spots for things that chafe.
Rereading it, I can see how it could easily be read as a snark lobbed in your direction, which wasn’t my intent. (I see that the only logical way to parse what I set down there necessarily puts you in the “Ann Raynd crowd.” Faulty generalization. Sorry!)
I sat down and watched the whole thing. I guess I thought it was okay. He seemed to trip over his tongue alot. But the part where he talked about the republican love for him was a good method at getting that differentiating point accross to the general public. And the line “Strength and wisdom are not opposing values” will probably come away as the most brilliant line of the campaigns.
I kind of thought the “Send me” was a little too construed. But then again, these events embody that.
I just wish more speakers would learn how to speak. The pauses are so awkward. As soon as they hear so much as a peep, they stop. Then, there’s an awkward instant of silence, and they start again only to step on the ensuing reaction to the silence of polite applause. The applause causes them to stop, and so it cycles until they end up saying something like this:
“Ask not… ask not what your… ask not… thank you… ask not what your country can do for you… ask not what your country… thank you… ask not…”
By the time they get it out, its effect is ruined.
Reagan was the best speech maker of my lifetime, and his technique in a case like this was akin to surfing. The first peep is merely the hint of a wave. You have to jump on it, let it swell, and ride it on home. Don’t stop talking when the applause begins; rather, talk above it. Amplify your voice and ride the applause to the conclusion of your statement, when the applause will break into cheers like a wave crashing at the shore.
Help a dork? I can’t seem to find a print version of Clinton’s speech. Everyone has video, but I don’t have sound on my computer. Anyone?
Hell, I just watched it in full, and I’m ready to offer him Dutch citizenship and the job of prime minister. Fantastic speech.
Kalhoun, here are both the video files as well as the full speech in text.
Before or after attorney fees?
That pretty well screws the poor states in the South. We have to come up with money for No Child Left Behind and Homeland Scurity that the Feds expect us to pay for.