The B and B boys give speeches

[greg775]

Well, Biden and Obama gave their speeches tonight, following speeches of Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton earlier in the week. Please critique them for me.

My opinion: Clinton gave the best speech of the convention, followed by Biden, Barack and Michelle. I haven't heard yet what Wolf Blitzer thought of the speech. I watched the FOX crew and I was surprised some columnist named Krupheimer or something just blistered Obama. He said it was a horrible speech.

Personally I thought Obama gave a pretty good speech. He admitted the job has brought him to his knees at times which I thought was great that he turned to God in time of need. I thought it made him seem very human in admitting he doesn't have all the answers at all times. I dunno. I think Barack comes across as a good man and I am fairly convinced he'll do all he can to get things moving in the right direction. But as far as the speech. I'd give it a B-.

Biden's speech was very good IMO. He made a convincing argument that Barack is a good leader and is a better choice than that pretty rich boy the Republicans are throwing out there. I'd give Biden's speech a solid B. Clinton gets an A and Michelle a C.

 

Conclusion: Obama beats Romney in a rout in the debates and in the election; Biden mops up the Republicans' Veep candidate in the Veep debate as well.

 

[Jake]

Greg, I feel like your political sentiments are shifting

[greg775]

I just watched msnbc's postspeech coverage; wow they love Obama on that network. I gotta check out Wolf Blitzer and Andy Cooper if it comes on.

 

Well I'm going to bed, didn't catch Wolf Blitzer, but those msnbc panelists should be paid by Obama. That one white haired guy who they spoof on SNL was giddy saying how great Obama's speech was. No flame, but all the print media seem to think the speech was an epic fail.

Edited September 7, 2012 by greg775

[GoodAsGould]

You are the first to give Michelle obamas speech such a low grade from what I've read. It does seem like Clinton's speech definitely was amazing and gave our president an early lead in the election

[StrangeSox]

Well, Biden and Obama gave their speeches tonight, following speeches of Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton earlier in the week. Please critique them for me.

My opinion: Clinton gave the best speech of the convention, followed by Biden, Barack and Michelle. I haven't heard yet what Wolf Blitzer thought of the speech. I watched the FOX crew and I was surprised some columnist named Krupheimer or something just blistered Obama. He said it was a horrible speech.

Personally I thought Obama gave a pretty good speech. He admitted the job has brought him to his knees at times which I thought was great that he turned to God in time of need. I thought it made him seem very human in admitting he doesn't have all the answers at all times. I dunno. I think Barack comes across as a good man and I am fairly convinced he'll do all he can to get things moving in the right direction. But as far as the speech. I'd give it a B-.

Biden's speech was very good IMO. He made a convincing argument that Barack is a good leader and is a better choice than that pretty rich boy the Republicans are throwing out there. I'd give Biden's speech a solid B. Clinton gets an A and Michelle a C.

 

Conclusion: Obama beats Romney in a rout in the debates and in the election; Biden mops up the Republicans' Veep candidate in the Veep debate as well.

 

 

I think you are referring to Charles Krauthammer. He's a hard-line Republican, so of course he said Obama's speech sucked. He said Clinton's speech was a "swing-and-a-miss." Do not look to people like Charles Krauthammer for truthful analysis.

[StrangeSox]

You are the first to give Michelle obamas speech such a low grade from what I've read. It does seem like Clinton's speech definitely was amazing and gave our president an early lead in the election

Clinton got higher ratings than the NFL. Michelle got higher ratings than both of them.

[Jake]

I thought the President's speech was good. Not great or revolutionary, nothing like that, but good. He was at times humble, he was direct, he was specific on some policy goals (obviously interested in how we get to these goals, but that stump wasn't the right avenue for a full explanation), went after his opponent but not in an absolutely bloodthirsty way, and generally laid out what the aims of his next term in office will be. He made some statements that sounded decidedly non-socialist, for people worried about that. "The government can't solve every problem, but every problem can be solved" or something like that.

[Balta1701]

Kinda hoping that he didn't PaulRyan it on any of the personal stories he threw in at the end...there's a lot there that deserves a good story-fact-check.

[Jenksismyhero]

Obama's was the worst IMO. Clinton's was the best. Anyone that claims Barrack is a great public speaker needs to watch Clinton or even Biden do his thing. Barrack is a reader, not an orator. And he continually messes up his words and emphasis words in a sentence at odd moments. Clinton is just smooth and fun to listen to, even if you don't agree with him.

 

Obama's content wasn't anything great either. Romney was hit for not being specific. Someone give me specifics of Obama's plan, other than to end poverty, make every child literate, and defend us from every enemy. Oh, I guess we're going to manufacture goods again? Is that really a plan?

[Jake]

I would say that Biden is maybe more entertaining, but only because he's a terrible speaker and seems unable to decide whether he wants to be on the prompter or not.

[NorthSideSox72]

I guess it is becoming tradition now that I show back up in the Buster every few months...

 

I don't get where people say Biden's speech was good. I thought it was pretty terrible. He's just not a gifted speaker. How many times did he start a sentence with "folks"? I thought his speech was oddly paced, thin, and badly delivered. Grade: D

 

Obama's speech was good but nothing special. And he didn't get into any more specifics than Romney did - but he delivered better. Obama did what you need to do in the conventions, which is spark the base. Grade: B

 

Michelle's speech was very good, I thought, but as with Ann Romney's speech, it just doesn't carry much weight since she's not running for office. Grade: A-

 

Paul Ryan is a better speaker than I had previously thought, he gave a pretty good speech... except that it turns out a metric f***-ton of the supposed facts he espoused were just utterly false. Grade: C+

 

Romney improved over any other speech I've seen him give, so that's a good thing. But he is still not terribly charismatic, and that will hurt him in the debates. Grade: B-

 

As for the debates... I am pretty sure Obama will crush Romney, but I am also pretty sure Ryan will crush Biden. Romney can't beat Obama in terms of speaking ability or relatability, so his only real shot is a combination of wilting attacks on the current economy, and providing some specific policy ideas that are his own.

 

[clyons]

Clinton got higher ratings than the NFL. Michelle got higher ratings than both of them.

Wow, that's surprising to me, even considering it was like 8 networks to 1. Do you have the numbers?

Edited September 7, 2012 by PlaySumFnJurny

[NorthSideSox72]

I guess it is becoming tradition now that I show back up in the Buster every few months...

 

I don't get where people say Biden's speech was good. I thought it was pretty terrible. He's just not a gifted speaker. How many times did he start a sentence with "folks"? I thought his speech was oddly paced, thin, and badly delivered. Grade: D

 

Obama's speech was good but nothing special. And he didn't get into any more specifics than Romney did - but he delivered better. Obama did what you need to do in the conventions, which is spark the base. Grade: B

 

Michelle's speech was very good, I thought, but as with Ann Romney's speech, it just doesn't carry much weight since she's not running for office. Grade: A-

 

Paul Ryan is a better speaker than I had previously thought, he gave a pretty good speech... except that it turns out a metric f***-ton of the supposed facts he espoused were just utterly false. Grade: C+

 

Romney improved over any other speech I've seen him give, so that's a good thing. But he is still not terribly charismatic, and that will hurt him in the debates. Grade: B-

 

As for the debates... I am pretty sure Obama will crush Romney, but I am also pretty sure Ryan will crush Biden. Romney can't beat Obama in terms of speaking ability or relatability, so his only real shot is a combination of wilting attacks on the current economy, and providing some specific policy ideas that are his own.

Oops, forgot about Slick Willie. His speech was mostly very good, though he wandered a bit. Grade: B+ or A-.

 

[Y2HH]

I guess it is becoming tradition now that I show back up in the Buster every few months...

 

I don't get where people say Biden's speech was good. I thought it was pretty terrible. He's just not a gifted speaker. How many times did he start a sentence with "folks"? I thought his speech was oddly paced, thin, and badly delivered. Grade: D

 

Obama's speech was good but nothing special. And he didn't get into any more specifics than Romney did - but he delivered better. Obama did what you need to do in the conventions, which is spark the base. Grade: B

 

Michelle's speech was very good, I thought, but as with Ann Romney's speech, it just doesn't carry much weight since she's not running for office. Grade: A-

 

Paul Ryan is a better speaker than I had previously thought, he gave a pretty good speech... except that it turns out a metric f***-ton of the supposed facts he espoused were just utterly false. Grade: C+

 

Romney improved over any other speech I've seen him give, so that's a good thing. But he is still not terribly charismatic, and that will hurt him in the debates. Grade: B-

 

As for the debates... I am pretty sure Obama will crush Romney, but I am also pretty sure Ryan will crush Biden. Romney can't beat Obama in terms of speaking ability or relatability, so his only real shot is a combination of wilting attacks on the current economy, and providing some specific policy ideas that are his own.

 

I pretty much agree with this...but I don't think the debates mean much anymore. Practically everyone that watches debates already knows who they're voting for, and I've yet to see anyone swayed by a debate. The debate moderators are also next to useless these days, as the candidates almost never answer any of the debate questions posed to them, or outright ignore the questions and say whatever they want about whatever they want. I think this has a lot to do with debates becoming incapable of swaying voters, since none of them bother answering any questions.

 

You will get this:

 

Republicans: "Romney was awesome, Obama lost."

Democrats: "Obama was awesome, Romney lost."

TAP (our new party): "Neither of them actually answered any of the questions...they both lost. No, scratch that...they both won...the American people lost."

[southsider2k5]

Oops, forgot about Slick Willie. His speech was mostly very good, though he wandered a bit. Grade: B+ or A-.

 

I didn't watch his speech this year. Officially I watched none of either party's conventions. I will say this much. I loathe Bill Clinton, but he is one of the best public speakers I have ever seen.

[Jake]

The debates are usually worth watching, but they do what they should do and respond to most things ideologically.

 

"What will you do with taxes?"

 

Romney: "I will empower job creators to grow their business and hire people instead of paying for welfare"

 

Obama: "I will get those evil corporate elites to drown in their tax obligations! Go middle class!"

 

ooooo, ahhhh

[BigSqwert]

I pretty much agree with this...but I don't think the debates mean much anymore. Practically everyone that watches debates already knows who they're voting for, and I've yet to see anyone swayed by a debate.

 

That's some great evidence you have there. They might as well cancel them based on what you've presented.

[Chisoxfn]

I guess it is becoming tradition now that I show back up in the Buster every few months...

 

I don't get where people say Biden's speech was good. I thought it was pretty terrible. He's just not a gifted speaker. How many times did he start a sentence with "folks"? I thought his speech was oddly paced, thin, and badly delivered. Grade: D

 

Obama's speech was good but nothing special. And he didn't get into any more specifics than Romney did - but he delivered better. Obama did what you need to do in the conventions, which is spark the base. Grade: B

 

Michelle's speech was very good, I thought, but as with Ann Romney's speech, it just doesn't carry much weight since she's not running for office. Grade: A-

 

Paul Ryan is a better speaker than I had previously thought, he gave a pretty good speech... except that it turns out a metric f***-ton of the supposed facts he espoused were just utterly false. Grade: C+

 

Romney improved over any other speech I've seen him give, so that's a good thing. But he is still not terribly charismatic, and that will hurt him in the debates. Grade: B-

 

As for the debates... I am pretty sure Obama will crush Romney, but I am also pretty sure Ryan will crush Biden. Romney can't beat Obama in terms of speaking ability or relatability, so his only real shot is a combination of wilting attacks on the current economy, and providing some specific policy ideas that are his own.

The only chance the republican's have is if Ryan and Romeny really hit them with specifics during the debates and just attack them on the economy and what should have been done and what they are proposing. Without that, Obama will win.

[southsider2k5]

The debates are usually worth watching, but they do what they should do and respond to most things ideologically.

 

"What will you do with taxes?"

 

Romney: "I will empower job creators to grow their business and hire people instead of paying for welfare"

 

Obama: "I will get those evil corporate elites to drown in their tax obligations! Go middle class!"

 

ooooo, ahhhh

 

The debates suck anymore. There is no discussion of ideas. They are a pre-arranged campaign speech cut up into smaller bits staged around "questions". I'd love to see the debates get back to the old back and forth formats, but no one has the testicular fortitude to take a risk like that anymore.

[Chisoxfn]

The debates are usually worth watching, but they do what they should do and respond to most things ideologically.

 

"What will you do with taxes?"

 

Romney: "I will empower job creators to grow their business and hire people instead of paying for welfare"

 

Obama: "I will get those evil corporate elites to drown in their tax obligations! Go middle class!"

 

ooooo, ahhhh

That won't win the election for Romeny. If Romney is going to win, he's going to have to really pull out all of the stops in the debate and really lay out a policy plan that people can get behind. Until then, he has no chance winning over those undecided.

[Y2HH]

That's some great evidence you have there. They might as well cancel them based on what you've presented.

 

...and your rebuttal contained just as much evidence.

[bmags]

I don't understand how Greg isn't being interviewed by every news station in this country. I feel like he's the perfect median voter.

 

edit: btw i don't want median voter to be considered a slight, it isn't. I just don't know that many people nowadays that were actually watching the convention for insight into the candidates.

Edited September 7, 2012 by bmags

[LittleHurt05]

I don't understand how Greg isn't being interviewed by every news station in this country. I feel like he's the perfect median voter.

 

edit: btw i don't want median voter to be considered a slight, it isn't. I just don't know that many people nowadays that were actually watching the convention for insight into the candidates.

 

Greg the plumber?

[StrangeSox]

Wow, that's surprising to me, even considering it was like 8 networks to 1. Do you have the numbers?

No,i heard it on cnn this morning. Based on the Neilson ratings.

[StrangeSox]

Obama's was the worst IMO. Clinton's was the best. Anyone that claims Barrack is a great public speaker needs to watch Clinton or even Biden do his thing. Barrack is a reader, not an orator. And he continually messes up his words and emphasis words in a sentence at odd moments. Clinton is just smooth and fun to listen to, even if you don't agree with him.

 

Obama's content wasn't anything great either. Romney was hit for not being specific. Someone give me specifics of Obama's plan, other than to end poverty, make every child literate, and defend us from every enemy. Oh, I guess we're going to manufacture goods again? Is that really a plan?

Romney was hit for not being specific because people are still waiting for anything resembling an actual policy proposal from him. Obama has had detailed policy available for years, what with being the president and sending proposals to Congress and all.