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During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of American politics, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see. Syllabus: http://gov20h.blogspot.com/2023/08/draft-introduction-to-american-politics.html

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

No "Stories" in Obama's Speech on Afghanistan

Re: SUCCES in Communication

The New York Times live blog analyzing Obama's Afghanistan speech last night found that "the speech was notable for Mr. Obama because unlike most of his other major addresses, it did not include any personal anecdotes. There were no specific stories of soldiers he has met or families he has consoled."

Perhaps the Obama speech writers found that stories were not appropriate for the complexity and serious tenor of the topic. The New York Times reported that the speech instead "braced Americans for the difficulty ahead and sought to put the fight in the context of history."

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