The Voice

Perhaps you've heard actor Richard Dreyfuss's recent dramatic reading of Apple's End User License Agreement.  As comedy, this concept goes back decades, like when Orson Welles read some of the more insipid rock lyrics and Peter Sellers did a Shakespearean interpretation of The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night."

Those blessed with such talent, particularly the voice, have an advantage in presenting ideas.  Norman Rose smoothly told us in his resonant baritone to "rotate your tires" in National Lampoon's parody of Desiderata, and it sounded more Biblical than The Ten Commandments.  More recently, Charleton Heston wonderfully captured author Michael Crichton's sarcasm and amusement in reading the Forward to "Jurassic Park."

The voice isn't everything.  You need the words as well. Part of what makes Rush Limbaugh successful is his masterful delivery, whether you believe him or not.  He can do this scripted or not, even with his hearing handicap. When now Senator Al Franken tried his hand at talk radio, he would use his authoritative voice to read a prepared monologue at the start of each hour, sounding like the proverbial voice of reason, again whether you believed him or not.  But when the script ran out, his aura dissipated as he fumbled his way through the rest of hour, having little to contribute beyond sniping at President George W. Bush.  It was no accident that he wasn't allowed to work alone, Katherine Lanpher there to keep him focused.

Stem-winders, dramatic intonations - speeches - are a staple of politics.  But lately, delivery is being substituted for content, let alone actual ideas.  Exhibit one: Albert Gore, Jr., candidate for President in 2000, grand high priest of Man-Made Global Warming.  Exhibit two: John F. Kerry who ran in 2004.  Alas, even his highbrow tone couldn't save him from gaffes like "global test" and "for it before I was against it."  They're both amazingly ignorant given their station and education, but listening casually you might think they were as profound as Abraham Lincoln or Stephen Douglas.

Nobody embodies this trend, this problem more than our current President, Barack Obama. He is just as ignorant as Gore and Kerry, but has a commanding voice and delivery anywhere his TelePrompter can be plugged in.

Is this a birthright of the male gender, that pitch matters?  Perhaps, but maybe that's just numbers, that men dominate politics.  Fewer than 50 of the 134 Minnesota House members are women.  (Quiet out there!)  And maybe higher pitch accentuates shrillness, as with U.S.gv Sen. Amy Klobuchar and yes, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.  They both get elected comfortably so it's not a fatal flaw, but I would otherwise much prefer listening to Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch's calming, matter-of-fact style.

The ability to project is clearly going to matter in the 2012 Presidential election.  The Democrats have Obama barring some scandal or economic calamity.  Who do we have?  Mike Huckabee has the talent I'm talking about.  Tim Pawlenty does not.  The others are in-between.  Sarah Palin?  I'm honestly not sure, often shrill but often deadly on point which I think explains the leftist media attempts to preempt her.

Maybe the economy will decide the whole matter, by either unexpected recovery or expected stagflation.  But if it's close, we Republicans cannot afford to run another tongue-tied candidate like Bob Dole or John McCain. 

Comments

[Give2Attain]

I am not sure how many people actually hear anything beyond that smooth voice. The ability to think critically seems to be lacking. And if a couple of sound bites resonate with the listener, they seem be happy overlooking the other "details".

With this in mind, I sometimes wonder how the Bush's got elected President. They certainly were not very eloquent.

[The Big Stink]

Give: I have the answer - Walter Mondale and John Kerry.

[The Big Stink]

Oh, and lest we forget - Al Gore. Three candidates who could make watching paint dry an Oscar-winning enterprise.