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Video comparing the 1994 Texas gubernatorial debate with the 2004 presidential debate.
Article from the Boston Globe
Article from Truthdig.com
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April 16th, 2008 
Hail to the chief. That’s the happy song they play for the president.
Video comparing the 1994 Texas gubernatorial debate with the 2004 presidential debate.
Article from the Boston Globe
Article from Truthdig.com
13 Comments
Meandering
He’s still the President and we put him there. I’m more worried now about who’s going to be in there next.
steph
im a republican and ill admitt it! i always thought his speaking had changed. but im gonna have to flame responsibly on this because i think you just bashed the president for call him an idiot was it? or was that just my imagination? ill watch the video again, but i just cant justify calling him that regardless if his speaking has changed. i guess im just bothered by how many people bas him so it easily sets me off. but not one of your best videos. i do agree with some of it but most of it got me annoyed. the hail to the chief seemed like sarcasm. regardless of wich he has a speaking problem or not doesnt make him a bad president. its like saying a person that cant talk or a deaf person cant be president. i dont think hes a good president i just think its wrong to say he shouldnt be president because of it even if he does have a mental problem.
Rion
Truth, most of US’s presidents have something wrong with them at some point. Kind of makes it part of the job I think.
Mike
Maybe he’s just getting the media’s goat. Or maybe, that’s just how normal people talk. They stutter and fumble over their words. Whatever happened to the notion that self-government meant government by citizens, no elites, in positions of power? (How much have Hillary and Barack spent in their campaign against each other? How much did Romney spend? Just sayin…)
CreateSomething » I like this guy
[...] Hail to the chief [...]
The Brothers Winn
Brian, thanks for writing in. Check out the supporting linked articles and video on our website. They may help with some of the objections you have with our video.
Both clips are purportedly unscripted speaking in public debates.
Agreed. But if you watch the linked video, there is also footage of a large faut-pas made in a speech by Pres. Bush - a speech where there is a script on the podium in front of him. And it isn’t the only example.
Our intent was not to assess the intelligence of the president, though his in-eloquence in recent years made light of by his opponents. We also weren’t trying to say conclusively what has happened to him in past few years. Our main focus was solely to point out that there is a big difference between the way he speaks now and the way he did before. If anything it should be construed to dispel the myth that he “is and always was stupid”. The video was meant to show the change … a challenging thing to try to do in under four minutes.
Lastly, pre-senile dementia is just one of the many conclusions put forward by a medical doctor. Clearly there are other theories as well.
Bryan
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say he could be suffering presenile dementia based on those clips. Not saying he’s not but comparing those two clips is pretty much comparing apples and oranges. One was a prepared speech and one was a debate. Public speaking is not a very good way to judge someone’s intelligence. There are very smart people who are lousy public speakers and visa versa. It’s better to judge a person on his ideas rather than his oratory skills. I don’t agree with Bush on a lot of things but I’ll give him credit for being sincere in what he thinks. Obama, who has fantastic speaking skills, can mesmerize a crowd without really saying anything of substance. He just tells us that we need change. It’s best to judge a candidate on his/her ideas and not how they present them.
Jeff Green
Man, it’s a good thing my town board didn’t see this show!
As for me, I love you more than ever.
Ingrid
scott, I like your ideas, hahaha
no, I’m going to stay out of this one, what if they track me down and won’t let me in when that holiday to california is finally coming up!
Scott
The “guy behind the camera” said I could write a post this long. ;-)
It is not the first time something like this has happened. Democrats used to mock Reagan about his bad memory. He even joked about it himself. Then it turned out he had Alzheimer’s and the jokes stopped.
Bush is (or at least was) smarter than Kerry. He got better grades at Yale and took harder classes.
On the one hand, no one wants a president with little or no experience (although the Democrats sure seem to this time around). On the other hand, there are definite problems that come with age — senility being one of them.
Once McCain became the defacto nominee on the Republican side the jokes about his age started up. Not a day goes by that Letterman, Leno, or one of the others takes a shot at him for being old. He is 71. Hillary is 60. Obama is 45ish.
Who do I want for President? None of the above. I think they should have two massive game shows: Jeopardy (economics, history, politics, and constitutional law) to pick the nominees for President and American Idol (or some other popularity contest) to pick a Head of State. That way you get someone who knows what the heck they are talking about making the decisions and someone who can look good and give long meaningless speeches at state functions.
cribcat
Wow,that made me laugh! And you voted him in how many times? Pure geniusness
kahrytan
…More like He is stressed out…]
Compare the health of former Presidents before they got into office and when they left.
Ali
I am a Canadian …. i don’t even know the last time i heard about our PM