The Clairvoyance of the Speechwriters
In preparation for tomorrow’s State of the Union live chat (you really should join us … it’s going to be catered), I thought it might be worthwhile to return to last week’s podcast, where Peter, Bill, and I talked about presidential speechwriting generally and State of the Union speeches in particular.
Based on White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ turn behind the podium Monday morning, I’d say the writers’ room did a fair job of laying down ground rules.
Bill mentioned that every speechwriter goes into the SOTU swearing to be the first to stave off the laundry list. From this morning:
Q Would it be fair to say that this speech is going to be different than the typical State of the Union speech, which tends to be a laundry list of issues?
MR. GIBBS: That’s probably right.
Q How will it be different?
MR. GIBBS: I think this will be -- I don’t think you’ll see a laundry list of issues.
Q So does that mean there are going to be very little in the way of specifics on policies and issues?
MR. GIBBS: I don’t think this is intended to be a speech that is one where you spend big chunks of time walking through the specific machinations of policy.
Could it be? Has the Obama team finally cracked the code? We won’t know until Tuesday night, but for a little perspective here’s then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan from 2006:
Q Looking ahead to next week's speech, what broad message does the President hope to send with this year's State of the Union?
MR. McCLELLAN: … the President will have some new policies that he'll talk about that will reflect the priorities that the American people care most about. But this is more of a visionary and directional speech than it is a laundry list of proposals. So it's more thematic in nature is what he'll be talking about.
Good luck with that.
We talked about the tendency of politicians to be tardy in putting their material together. Peter mentioned a George H.W. Bush speech altered so late in the process that he literally had to run on stage and deliver it to Bush in the seconds before the curtains opened. Bill recalled an anecdote about Bill Clinton having alterations performed on his 1996 speech to the Democratic Convention in the limo on the way to the venue. It looks like Obama – ever the meddler – is closer to this frenzied model than to the more controlled processes of the Reagan and Bush 43 White Houses. Per Gibbs:
Q Can you talk about the plans for releasing either excerpts or anything tomorrow?
MR. GIBBS: I think we’re going to -- I think you’ll soon see an email with some briefing plans where we’ll walk through the speech, likely embargoed until pretty close to its delivery. And I don't know about prospects in terms of excerpts. I think that, Roger, is always largely dependent on what sections the President is done tinkering around with.
A president "tinkering" with a draft so late into the night that it holds up the excerpts being released? That’s enough to induce heartburn in this speechwriter, two years and 3,000 miles removed from the White House.
Then there was my prediction that Daniel Hernandez, Congresswoman Giffords’ intern who bravely threw himself into the mix during the Tucson shooting, would be in the gallery for the speech. Gibbs:
I should say this. We do have and we’ll be putting out a fuller list of who has been invited and who will be in the First Lady’s box. I think some of you have seen or reported that Daniel Hernandez will be there, and that is accurate. The family of Christina Taylor Green will be there, as well as Dr. Peter Rhee from the hospital -- you all will recognize the name of the doctor who took the President around when he visited Tucson a little more than a week ago.
Not bad for one podcast. Log on to the discussion tomorrow night. Peter will be picking lottery numbers, Bill will be projecting the Super Bowl spread, and I’ll have my outlook for the Atlantic hurricane season.
- Comment (4)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
May '10
Re: The Clairvoyance of the Speechwriters
They seem to have figured out the Expectations Game in every aspect of politics except this. When a reporter asks you if it will be a laundry list, the correct answer is "yeah, pretty much just a laundry list; I've seen it." And then give an apologetic shrug and point to the hot one from Univision or wherever.
Will there be an open bar at the live chat?
Edited on Jan 25, 2011 at 4:05amJul '10
Re: The Clairvoyance of the Speechwriters
Obama will bow to all points of the compass in this one. Lucky he has all that experience abasing himself and us to foreign potentates. The Democrats have smartly rigged the "optics" so that the big switch in November will be canceled out by the date night seating arrangement. The Stupid Party docilely went along as usual. A pity we won't be able to watch Olbermann in the swooning praise on the cult station MSNBC.
May '10
Re: The Clairvoyance of the Speechwriters
Few things interest me less than SOTU, and the pod cast convinced me of the validity of my lack of interest. If I lived in the states I would be watching Rush improve his golf. As I am in the UK, I look forward to reading your thoughts on it when I awake.
May '10
Re: The Clairvoyance of the Speechwriters
Not even the Macy's Thanksgiving parade?