I have no doubt that a lot of quality speechwriters work hard on George W. Bush’s speeches. But having heard Bush on TV, which doesn’t make me an expert by any means, I nonetheless know he is far from a “Great Communicator.” Matthew Scully, a former Bush speechwriter, has a NY Times Op-ed piece that is a bit hard to treat too seriously - perhaps he only read the speeches he praises - and even then? There is the obligatory bow to (undiscovered?) genius, “Often the best edits came in the family theater, from the president himself as he read the text aloud.” It is, however, a little interesting, if you forget the president he’s talking about.
I wasn’t expecting stylistic miracles in the State of the Union Address - and reading the text I wasn’t surprised (I was at the Democracy for America Meetup tonight). As far as substance goes - I wasn’t too hopeful on that count - and wasn’t surprised there either. Democrats have a lot of work to do, but while Republicans and Bush may make progress difficult with reactionary and regressive policies, at least Bush’s oratory will not hinder them.
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