A World Without Speechwriters
Having been sidelined for much of the last few weeks with an illness that I can only describe as some
sort of hybrid of the Ebola Virus and Scarlet Fever (if you live in Southern California, don’t go outside … it’s going around and takes about three weeks to recover from), I’ve been woefully lax in tending to my Ricochet garden. Rather than burying comments in old threads (though, FYI, I’ll be going back to the Libya discussion shortly), I wanted to present a new post to address something that Gus Marvinson brought up earlier in the week: the need – or lack thereof -- for political speechwriters.
Gus dug up some Calvin Coolidge eloquence to prove that there was a time when elected officials could summon their own rhetorical muses and then wondered:
In this era of speech by committee, in which the honorable goal is to craft a fine message, but the common result is vague rhetoric, is it time for politicians to dispense with the speechwriters? Is it even possible?
Allow me a concise response in the hopes that Peter and Bill will follow. Is it possible? Strictly speaking, yes. Plausible? I doubt it.
There are a few pros who go without scribes (Mitch Daniels writes all of his own material – and he’s outrageously good at it). But the overwhelming majority of pols farm their speechwriting out as they would any other administrative task. For most of them writing is simply too time-consuming not to delegate.
The bigger problem, however, is that many of our elected officials are not men of letters by even the most generous standards – they’re just not mechanically equipped for the task. And I think there’s a good argument to be made that this fact has contributed to the general decline in their quality. What your teachers used to tell you when grading papers is just as true for politicians: if you can’t write clearly, then you can’t think clearly.
For that reason, I’m very sympathetic to Gus’s broader point. When people used to ask me which politician would be my dream speechwriting client, I would tell them “my dream would be a world where politicians don’t need speechwriters.” No scribe, no matter how eloquent, can substitute for the thrilling honesty of a man speaking in his own voice and presenting his own ideas.
One other happy side effect that would result from self-authored speeches (especially at the presidential level): there’d be a lot fewer speeches given (see my vintage post on presidential speechwriting and diminishing marginal returns). With every speech representing an investment of the president’s most valuable possession – time – official remarks would have to be fewer, further between, and limited only to the most important matters. And if the POTUS chose to wing it more often, he’d have to be someone who was good enough on his feet to pull it off. That’s a world I’d be all too happy to inhabit.
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Comments :
Feb '11
Re: A World Without Speechwriters
The British system is far better at finding who is good on their feet than is the American system. I'm not at all convinced, however, it necessarily leads to better policy. And in the end, better policy is what politics should be about.
Edited on Mar 26, 2011 at 4:47amJun '10
Re: A World Without Speechwriters
It would be a heck of a lot more honest if pols wrote their own stuff. How many times do we hear the press give attribution to the writers of the SOTU? How about ...NEVER. It's always the "reader" of the speech who gets the raves or the disses.I bet a large percentage of folks believe the speaker is the writer. It's an interesting thing to keep in mind every time one hears a politician give a speech.
The other huge advantage...if Obama had to choose between a tee time or writing another speech, most certainly I would have a lot less favorite TV shows interrupted with another TOTUS event.
P.S.
Glad you're feeling better, Troy.
Edited on Mar 26, 2011 at 4:57amOct '10
Re: A World Without Speechwriters
Looking at Judith Levey's post on Sarah Palin, I ask, 'does Palin write her own speeches?' My guess is that, at least for the most part, she does. And for that straight forward honesty, she is savaged, even by some of our own, and without any efforts to point out policy issues.
Perhaps her old fashioned ways, the ones that Gus harkens back to, are part of her problem. Does Sarah need a pro to make Kenneth like her?
Jun '10
Re: A World Without Speechwriters
If they don't need a speechwriter, they still need someone familiar with the history of American political rhetoric. You don't want to sound like you're plagiarizing, easy to do, and you don't want to adopt any terms or phrases with bad historical connotations--history that you weren't aware of.
Mar '11
Re: A World Without Speechwriters
I'm glad you understood the spirit of my post, Troy. In retrospect, my question was rhetorical. President Coolidge, and the presidents who came before him, were not just better equipped to clearly express their ideas, they likely had more time to craft them. In this 24/7 media world, a delay in messaging is easily interpreted as indecision
Unfortunately, when a politician speaks, the cynic in me will always wonder who is really talking.
Edited on Mar 26, 2011 at 2:59pmRe: A World Without Speechwriters
Ray,
Palin does indeed use speechwriters. In fact, I may be the only conservative speechwriter in Los Angeles who hasn't worked for her.
During the 2008 campaign she was served by Matthew Scully, an extremely talented veteran of the Bush Administration and a fellow Los Angeleno (he wrote the absolutely wonderful convention speech that year).
A woman named Rebecca Mansour, also based in Los Angeles, currently handles the duties and also works on her books (not sure to what extent).
raycon: Looking at Judith Levey's post on Sarah Palin, I ask, 'does Palin write her own speeches?' My guess is that, at least for the most part, she does. And for that straight forward honesty, she is savaged, even by some of our own, and without any efforts to point out policy issues.
Perhaps her old fashioned ways, the ones that Gus harkens back to, are part of her problem. Does Sarah need a pro to make Kenneth like her? · Mar 26 at 5:31am
Nov '10
Re: A World Without Speechwriters
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and here's looking forward to your observations regarding the Libya discussion posts.