The Economist has an interesting chart of the use of the words "hope" and "change" in presidential inaugural addresses. Obama is a mere piker compared to such hope and change artists as William Howard Taft and Dwight Eisenhower. You might expect that presidents coming to power in a change of party from the previous administration might be more inclined to talking about hope and change, but the statistics don't bear that out. A lot of presidents being inaugurated into their second term also seemed to be full of hope and change as if they were dissatisfied with what they had done during their first terms.
Perhaps speechwriters in the future will look for some new clichés.
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1 comment:
Perhaps people will start to actually listen to what these guys are saying before they pull the lever.
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