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Stunning Break with Last Eight Years
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has
broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his
controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say. Millions of
Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty
Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal
tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually
every time he opened his mouth.
But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public
pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years
many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring. According to
presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some
Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks
English as if it were his first language.
"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in
agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the
risk of sounding like an elitist."
The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his
speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate,
subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off."
The President-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has
already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of
Alaska. "Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a
way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't
really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what
Americans are needing also," she said.
Stunning Break with Last Eight Years
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has
broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his
controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say. Millions of
Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty
Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal
tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually
every time he opened his mouth.
But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public
pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years
many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring. According to
presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some
Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks
English as if it were his first language.
"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in
agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the
risk of sounding like an elitist."
The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his
speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate,
subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off."
The President-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has
already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of
Alaska. "Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a
way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't
really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what
Americans are needing also," she said.
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