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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJoe Biden needs an eloquent speechwriter
Today, he spoke for about 23 minutes. Everything he said was true, he nailed Trump to the wall, and he gave us a good reason to vote for Joe Biden.
But it lacked much that anyone will remember. It lacked inspiration. It lacked eloquence.
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address had 272 words, lasted two or three minutes and was perhaps the greatest speech in American history. As Shakespeare said: "Brevity is the soul of wit."
I don't expect any candidate to deliver a Gettysburg Address. But most people can quote lines from FDR and JFK. They both knew how to inspire. They both understood eloquence. Not to mention the immortal words of a man who never ran for president, MLK.
Joe, I think you'll probably win in November no matter what you say or do. But every Republican presidential election in this century has been stolen. In 2000, the Supreme Court appointed George W. Bush. In 2004, Bush got a second term due to a stolen election in Ohio. And how many people really believe that the 2016 election was "won" fair and square by the orange creature.
To wrest the presidency away from the beast inhabiting the White House, and to totally annihilate the Republican Party's control of the senate, we're going to need the biggest turnout in history. And Joe, that means inspiring people.
Joe, please, please find a speech writer that can move people and who can touch their souls. There are many great ones out there. Many of them are screen writers who wrote shows like "The West Wing" and "Madame Secretary." You know who they are. They are eloquent. They inspire. They write speeches that "sing." Hire them. And then speak their words with the passion that we all know is in you.
NotAPuppet
(326 posts)His speech, while good, could have been a lot more powerful. He should hire Obamas speechwriter.
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)at the moment, like a lot of other people! Maybe Joe can hire him to write speeches.
TeamPooka
(24,156 posts)MissB
(15,800 posts)With Pod Save America.
LakeArenal
(28,729 posts)northoftheborder
(7,566 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,280 posts)Biden's speaking style is fairly restrained, though, and sometimes the eloquence of the words doesn't come through as well as it would with a more dynamic speaker. I loved his speech and it did touch my soul.
get the red out
(13,459 posts)We got a bit spoiled by Obama's amazing delivery, so far as Dems go.
Maybe because I'm just a rough-edged old Kentucky gal, but I got all revved up listening to his speech! "Yea, give it to 'em Uncle Joe!"
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)matt819
(10,749 posts)It was a speech that reflected who he is. Hes not a grand orator, but what he says you can feel us straight from the heart. And I think he and his speech writers captured that essence.
Thekaspervote
(32,606 posts)And like the best about him.
Thats always memorable
frazzled
(18,402 posts)to be able to read somebody else's speech. Any actor or public speaker can read a speech.
There was some good writing in there. Biden just likes to extemporize a bit in his own way in places. I think people like the folksy Joe they know.
Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)Music Man
(1,181 posts)I thought today's was one of Joe's finest. As others have mentioned, it was authentic, the speech that was needed at this moment, and I dare say eloquent in the way that Joe is. He provoked many interesting thoughts in me.
snowybirdie
(5,191 posts)did fine. Made good points and got the message across. Remember, he's a lifelong stutterer and needs to speak slowly to overcome this. Can any Democrat actually fault him after we've had 5 years of listening to the Orange menace?
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)sorry, that was a very very good speech. It had both eloquence and inspiration.
There isn't going to be another Obama for a generation, folks need to stop expecting everyone to be him.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)that if you try to "improve" the way he presents himself it's likely to be a mistake. He probably has a speechwriter on hand (if he needs one) who has spent so much time with him that the writer can almost channel Joe Biden and that's why he's so authentic and sincere when he speaks. As a writer, when someone evokes that degree of sincerity, you really should rejoice and use a light touch. Contrast him with Trump, who reads words that are meant to evoke compassion and it comes off as cynical and laughable.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Sorry it didn't touch you.
He's not Obama, but that was a great speech.
Cyrano
(15,023 posts)But can you give me a quote or two from it, or a couple of memorable lines?
"There is nothing to fear but fear itself."
"Ask not what you're country can do for you ..."
"I have a dream ..."
I'm not expecting him to be Obama. But I am asking for a few outstanding words/concepts here and there that soar.
We all know the passion and compassion that Joe Biden has in his heart. What I believe is needed are a few lines that can touch the passion and compassion of virtually everyone in America.
dsc
(52,130 posts)Maybe if he opened the Bible instead of wielding it.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)crickets
(25,896 posts)It was eloquent, inspirational, and comforting. I would much rather hear and be touched by a sincere speech that accomplishes that than worry whether it was written by a Hollywood script writer.
MFGsunny
(2,356 posts)Indykatie
(3,691 posts)They must write words that Biden are comfortable giving or the speech will feel inauthentic. I thought the speech was fine. I like Biden's tone and delivery style but Obama it ain't and won't ever be.
tinrobot
(10,848 posts)On that front, he knocked it out of the park.
DFW
(54,057 posts)Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Aaron Sorkin (dba Jed Bartlett).
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It brought tears to my eyes because I know what he says when he talks about someone so dear to you dying. That loss is everything to George Floyds family and they will feel the pain for the rest of their lives and it will hurt just as much each time.
blitzen
(4,572 posts)StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)I thought his speech was absolutely beautiful.
Response to Cyrano (Original post)
trof This message was self-deleted by its author.
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)If you make it too flowery and overly verbose it doesnt land with the average person.
Plain spoken empathy is the most eloquent speech needed.
Demsrule86
(68,352 posts)Let Joe be Joe.
Wanderlust988
(509 posts)Obama is a wordsmith and it's hard for Biden to replicate that. But yeah, it wouldn't hurt to have a crew of speechwriters to help him out now that he can afford them.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)crowd. I don't know what newspaper editors of the time thought. Lincoln folded the speech, put in his pocket and sat down, it was said that he never looked at the speech text again.
A speech, in time, becomes long-lasting because eventhough the speaker might not have realized it as such after giving it, like Lincoln didn't realize the endurance of his address. But what happens is that in time, evaluators realize that the speech perfectly capture the essence of the time that it was given in. What we need now is a president that feels real moral outrage, feels empathy and that we can see that in him, we don't and never had any of that from Trump, everything for him is a show, an emotional transaction. Biden's speech today will be rated by the annals of time as to whether it captured an important essence, an important need in the nation at the time that it was delivered, present evaluations of it are meaningless.
Cyrano
(15,023 posts)considered the right words at the right time and that those words will make a difference.
DrToast
(6,414 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Herman Melville is arguably the greatest American writer and one of the greatest in history, but if he had not married into a prominent family, he would have died in poverty, as it was, he had to borrow money from his father-in-law to make ends meet. He worked as a Customs Inspector for years toward the end of his life, a job his prominent father-in-law likely helped him get into.
John Steinbeck worked as a farmhand, a ranch hand and a construction worker as he struggled to get noticed as a writer.
Some of history's greatest composers, play wrights, painters, whose work is now celebrated and at times sells for hundreds of millions, died in poverty, unable to support themselves with their artistry.
There are exceptions, Samuel Clements and F. Scott Fitzgerald were largely celebrated and financially rewarded in their day, as was Steinbeck eventually.
I believe that one of our critical issues as progressives is that we often use historical context, an image that has been refined by time, to provide guidance in modern times. The Right doesn't do that, they ignore historical precedent and ethics and focus like a laser on what they want today. So Harry Reid lets historical precedent guide him in filling Judge openings, Mitch McConnell doesn't give a shit about precedent, his plan all along if he regained power was to pack the Courts with incompetent ideologues, even if that meant ignoring historical procedure, like giving a sitting President a hearing on a Court nominee. So, when I read Cyrano's OP, a person who I have a lot of respect for and generally agree with, I got a sickly feeling inside my stomach that it was alarmist and set an unachievable and inappropriate standard for Joe and as a consequence, unintentionally took the wind out of the sails of some people here. I felt that Cyrano missed the essence of what we need in our time now, a person that we can see trying to grasp the national pain and uncertainty, a person who is searching for the right solutions, imperfect as those elements can be at times. A person, warts and all, who touches on the very essence of what we as a nation are searching for. Joe's speech in time will be rated by those elements, not his ability to semi-robotically read a professionally prepared speech from a TelePrompTer.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)Doremus
(7,261 posts)One sentence was so verbose it took me a minute to realize he wasn't referring to Black Lives Matter in a negative tone, but rather Trump.
Adding to the problem is the fact that he tends to mumble and speak way too fast. He's got to slow down and enunciate his words.