Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Find some way, and soon, of having the candidate quote Calvin Coolidge--yes, Calvin Coolidge.
From Coolidge's magnificent "Speech on the Occasion of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence":
We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first. Unless we cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren sceptre in our grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things that are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling flame, the altar fires before which they worshiped.
Principled, passionate, and informed by a deep knowledge of American history. Traits, in other words, with which Gov. Romney would do well to associate himself. Come to think of it, why not schedule a Romney speech in honor of the Declaration of Independence for this coming Fourth of July?
(A tip of the hat to our own Ben Domenech, who reminded me of the Coolidge passage by using it to conclude an issue this week of his daily roundup of news and politics, "The Transom.")
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Dec '11
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4
"The speech is I have a dream, not I have a plan."
May '10
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Peter, I'm glad that quote stuck out to you as well. I saw it in the Transom and had the exact same thought... oh to have a president that recognizes Coolidge's profundity.
Apr '12
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Can't beat Coolidge.
Oct '11
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
We have a printout of this speech in our apartment.
Jun '10
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Oh, Peter. As Mr. Senik notes below, enormous damage would have to be done to the spirit of Mr. Coolidge's words, as he speaks excedingly far above the required 8.4 grade level.
Edited on May 25, 2012 at 11:00pmRe: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Peter, good advice especially since Romney is following in President Coolidge's footsteps. Silent Cal was the last governor of Massachusetts to make the trip from Beacon Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.
Apr '11
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
I agree. Furthermore, he should regularly note when he gives a speech in Massachusetts that he's giving his speech from the same spot that Coolidge, the former Governor of Massachusetts, gave his speech.
The one problem is that an awful lot of Americans believe that Coolidge was responsible for the laissez faire policies that resulted in the depression. There are a million problems with that believe, but there's a limited value to being right on the issue and wrong on the electorate. It's a good dog whistle to those of us with a better grasp of history, but it's one that should be blown carefully.
I do think it's a shame that he didn't blow it more during the primaries, and look forward to some limited expressions during the campaign.
Mar '11
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Mr Romney's team can probably do better than this:
“We don’t need another political fight about ending a woman’s right to choose, or getting rid of Planned Parenthood, or taking away access to affordable birth control,” Obama said, according to the White House transcript of his speech. “I want women to control their own health care choices, just like I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as my sons. We’re not rolling back the clock.”
Though, to be fair to Mr Obama's speech writers, he inserted his sons himself.
What has he been smoking?
Jun '10
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
This isn't one of those "Oh, please Ye Gods - A male Heir!" is it?
Dec '10
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Peter,
Not so silent Cal after all.
There is the greatest wisdom in what he was saying and when he was saying it. The events of the last 86 years since he spoke show him to be absolutely correct.
It's not the Medium it's the Message.
It's not the Charisma it's the Wisdom.
Good Shabbos,
Jim
Sep '10
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
That is a really great picture of the man, and one I had never seen before Ricochet. Stark contrast to the dull, stern face seen in text books etc.
Apr '11
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Oh, and with Coolidge coming to power as Senator Harding's VP (R-OH), if this Massachusetts governor picks an Ohio senator, it would be worth noting that the last time we had that team, it worked out pretty well.
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Peter, here is something to think about. Coolidge's speech is an oblique response to a speech Woodrow Wilson gave at Gettysburg on the 50th anniversary of the battle. Coolidge returned to Lincoln's themes, which Wilson had assiduously avoided. I talk about this briefly in Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift.
Jan '12
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
From the same speech:
Take that, Progressives!
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Noesis Noeseos
Take that, Progressives! · 20 minutes ago
That is, indeed his theme.
Mar '12
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
His speech at the "Dedication of the Jewish Community Center" isn't bad either:
http://www.calvin-coolidge.org/html/dedication_of_the_jewish_commu.html
Jan '12
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Paul A. Rahe
...
That is, indeed his theme. · 2 hours ago
Calvin Coolidge seemed to have been attuned to first things. Romney would be wise to learn from his writings, but I suspect that the tuition would be difficult. He gives every indication of inclining more to the Herbert-Hoover type of managerial pragmatism common among the squishier breed of Republican.
Still, the republic would suffer far less than under a second term of the Alinsky-ite.
Edited on May 26, 2012 at 4:56amJan '12
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Scarlet Pimpernel: His speech at the "Dedication of the Jewish Community Center" isn't bad either:
http://www.calvin-coolidge.org/html/dedication_of_the_jewish_commu.html · 15 minutes ago
The New York Times was a much more competently written newspaper in 1925, no?
Jun '10
Re: Free Advice to the Romney Speechwriting Team
Who is this Romney fellow of which you all speak? I have heard nary a word from him. If he does choose to appear somewhere, I do hope he also speaks.