[DJ MacWoW]

Isn’t this more likely a reflection on his speech writers? The ones Mr Genius (not) picked?

[USMA '71]

This is simply the way Black Jesus speaks to his peeps.

[Clara Lou]

I’m just guessing that it’s written at that level so as to be understood by the mass of illiterati that voted for Obama.

[StAntKnee]

Sorry, folks. It’s not a bad thing.

His SOTU speech is more accessible to more people than all earlier ones. It means he’s a better communicator, if that’s your measurement, not a worse one.

I know F-K pretty, pretty good, to quote Curb’s Larry David. The higher a speech reads, the denser it is. Not a measure of IQ, but ease of access.

[lacrew]

I believe most government manuals and forms are written at a 5th grade level. The authors actually have to try hard to achieve this. Lots of things to dislike about the speech - but the reading level isn’t one of them IMHO.

[DJ Frisat]

"Bush's speeches also averaged 2.4 more words per sentence than Obama, at 19.0."

How about the LENGTH of the words? Obama's obsessive use of "I", ought to drag down the letters-per-word average, too...

[Chode]

what do you expect from a boy that failed lunch...???

[Rocky]

I’ve often heard that if you’re addressing a speech or written document to the general public, eighth grade level is about right. If you use harder vocabulary, you will lose a significant portion of your audience.

[combat_boots]

Hadn’t thought of that. 8th grade level speeches.

They do know their audience.

[Publius6961]

Obama's SOTU speech scores readability of an eighth grader, two grades below GWB

And three grades above the 95% of the supporters who voted for him.

And the "Obama Money."

Just saying.