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"I had Jello today. I like Jello."
Seriously, is there a SINGLE Democrat left (apart from Al Sharpton) who understands the basic principles of oratory? Short, "gutty" words and short, declarative sentences work. Polysyllabic agglutinates that run on for paragraphs without reaching a period don't. Senate-speak equals death, as John Kerry so ably proved in 2004.
Like it or not, when the majority of Americans hear a word above the third-grade level, it's instantly translated in their minds into the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher:
"Mwaaa whaaa, whaaa whaa-whaa, mwaaaa."
I have to wonder, have the Republicans been running a long-term stealth campaign to secretly recruit all Democratic speechwriters? Or is it simply blind arrogance? Perhaps it's actually classism, a refusal to speak "beneath" themselves. Or is it a feeling of inadequacy, a fear that if they don't "talk smart", people will think they're stupid?
I don't know. But as long as they keep this crap up, they're never going to be able to connect with the American people.
