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2008-11-19 05:54:03
By Stephanie Holmes
BBC News
US President-elect Barack Obama's rhetorical skills, his ability to captivate
and inspire audiences with his powerful speeches has led many writers to
describe him as "the greatest orator of his generation".
What is the secret of his success - the words themselves, the way he delivers
them, or the historical change he represents?
"I believe Barack Obama embodies, more than any other politician, the ideals of
American eloquence," says Ekaterina Haskins, professor of rhetoric at the
University of Iowa.
His speeches, she argues, are shaded with subtle echoes of great speeches past,
consciously creating a sense of history, purpose and continuity.
Past ghosts
"He has certainly studied all of his predecessors, he is quite aware of the
rhetorical heritage that he draws on," Ms Haskins explains. "He clearly sees
himself as a descendant of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King."
"He is summoning the ghosts of previous leaders and presidents who Americans
have learnt to revere."
ECHOES OF THE PAST
MARTIN LUTHER KING : I may not get there with you but I want you to know
tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land
BARACK OBAMA : The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not
get there in one year or even one term. But, America, I have never been more
hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people
will get there
On winning the election, his Chicago address echoed two of the most famous
speeches in US history - Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg address and the
words spoken by assassinated civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King the day
before his death.
Philip Collins, a speech-writer for former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, is in
no doubt that Mr Obama owes his success to his oratorical gifts.
"He has shown the power of brilliant rhetorical force," says Mr Collins, a
leader writer for the UK's Times newspaper.
Initially, Mr Obama's speeches, peppered with references to lofty ideals like
"change", "promise" and "belief" prompted criticism that they were devoid of
content and policy.
He began to add policy detail as the campaign progressed. His speech at the
Democratic Convention was regarded as low-key by some observers - despite the
stage being grandly dressed with Greek columns - because of the amount of
concrete proposals it contained.
Peopled by personalities
Ms Haskins argues that Mr Obama has other techniques for avoiding the charge of
pure rhetoric, adding weight and depth to the abstract with solid
illustrations.
"Rhetoric always has the connotations of being about appearances rather than
reality but he doesn't sound false. He plays with the patriotic abstractions
that allow for a certain kind of rhetorical manoeuvring and fills them with
specific concrete examples," she says.
His victory speech, delivered in Chicago, channelled broad ideas of the
struggle of a generation through the eyes of 106-year-old Ann Nixon Cooper, who
has become a celebrity in her own right.
But does the poetry of his campaign risk stumbling when it faces the more
prosaic role of holding office?
RACE SPEECH IN FULL
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Many commentators pinpoint the "A More Perfect Union" speech, made in March
2008 in the aftermath of a scandal about his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah
Wright, as one of Mr Obama's finest.
Evidence of Rev Wright's inflammatory sermons risked irrevocably damaging Mr
Obama's candidacy but his response managed to tackle the question of race in US
society with delicacy.
It was a speech which wrapped the experience of different races together,
expressing understanding for the deep-seated, lingering resentments of each and
presenting himself as the embodiment of unity.
His style of delivery is basically churchy, it's religious: the way he slides
down some words and hits others
Philip Collins
Journalist and speech-writer
For Mr Collins, it remains the only speech, so far, that will not fade. Rousing
campaigning speeches, however perfectly pitched and presented, he says, do not
test the true mettle of a politician. What does is a speech that attempts to
change the opinions of those who disagree with you.
"The weakness of Obama's rhetoric so far is that it is so agreeable. There is
almost nothing he says with which you can disagree. We need to wait for the big
moments, the foreign policy challenges, for the great Obama speeches."
'It's about the tune'
Yet print out and read a transcript of a speech by Mr Obama and you may be
disappointed. Virginia Sapiro, professor of political science at Boston
University, suggests this is because the way Mr Obama delivers his speeches is
as important as his words.
"He looks at all times in possession of himself - he is very calm, with an
inner peace in his delivery which, in a time of crisis, is very important."
Ms Haskins agrees: "I've been going through his speeches textually. The text
alone cannot tell us why they are so powerful, it is about delivery."
He may have calmness, notes Mr Collins, but the range of his delivery - the way
he alters his pace, tone and rhythm - is closer to song.
"His style of delivery is basically churchy, it's religious: the way he slides
down some words and hits others - the intonation, the emphasis, the pauses and
the silences," he explains.
"He is close to singing, just as preaching is close to singing. All writing is
a rhythm of kinds and he brings it out, hits the tune. It's about the tune, not
the lyrics, with Obama."