Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Republicans mock Obama’s teleprompter use
washingtonpost.com ^

Posted on 10/19/2011 2:51:19 AM PDT by Sub-Driver

Republicans mock Obama’s teleprompter use By Philip Rucker, Published: October 18

It’s one of the very symbols of the presidency — the ultimate accessory to the ultimate bully pulpit, seemingly trumpeting to all that the words being uttered actually matter.

So why, on the campaign trail, has the teleprompter instead become a symbol of ineptitude, mocked repeatedly by Republican candidates?

Picking up on a theme that has been rippling through GOP circles for two years, Republican presidential candidates are trying to use President Obama’s reliance on teleprompters to deflate one of his biggest strengths — his oratorical skill. If Obama can’t give a two-minute speech without a screen telling him what to say, the critique goes, it’s a sign that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and can’t be trusted to do his job.

“Obama ruined the teleprompter for the rest of the politicians,” said Fred Davis, a media strategist who advised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in his 2008 presidential run and, until this summer, Republican candidate and former ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr.

“If you use it now, you’re like Obama,” Davis said. “It’s a negative because it’s a sign of inauthenticity. It’s a sign that you can’t speak on your own two feet. It’s a sign that you have handlers behind you telling you what to say.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last
Really?
1 posted on 10/19/2011 2:51:24 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
“Oh yeah? Well uh as soon as um the-the-they put it in my tuh tuh telepromter I'm uh really gonna tell you um off!”

—Obama.

2 posted on 10/19/2011 2:59:43 AM PDT by Happy Rain ( "Many of the most useful idiots of the Left are on the Right.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Now why would that be?


3 posted on 10/19/2011 3:00:42 AM PDT by allmost
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Kinda reminds me of the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz......


4 posted on 10/19/2011 3:04:15 AM PDT by sniper63 (If Obama pats himself on the back anymore, his shoulder will dislocate.....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Independents mock him as well.


5 posted on 10/19/2011 3:08:18 AM PDT by allmost
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
Obama's pets in the media just now noticing? LOL!
6 posted on 10/19/2011 3:09:29 AM PDT by penelopesire (TIME FOR A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

It is not nice to mock the Wee Wee

7 posted on 10/19/2011 3:12:07 AM PDT by Zakeet (If it ain't broke, the Wee Wee will fix it until it is)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Teddy Roosevelt didn’t need a teleprompter. People need to stop relying on crutches.


8 posted on 10/19/2011 3:13:10 AM PDT by ari-freedom ("Perry: good governor. Romney: Good hair."-Herman Cain)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Happy Rain

He speaks much more smoothly in Arabic; doesn’t even need a teleprompter.


9 posted on 10/19/2011 3:16:20 AM PDT by kearnyirish2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: penelopesire

Well done on the upgrade.


10 posted on 10/19/2011 3:16:54 AM PDT by allmost
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
"So why, on the campaign trail, has the teleprompter instead become a symbol of ineptitude, mocked repeatedly by Republican candidates?"

How quickly they pretend to forget. Or how frequently they lie. President George Bush, who didn't like teleprompters, was mocked and called synonyms for intellectually unfit by the media and on late night TV for having used one to give a major speech as president once. Of course, he was ALSO mocked when he used written notes while addressing the nation.

TOTUS is not any sort of symbol for the presidency; it's the symbol of Barack Hussein Obama.

11 posted on 10/19/2011 3:18:32 AM PDT by cake_crumb (Obama: the Unholy Won.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kearnyirish2
I heard that whenever he stomps on a bug he hollers “Allahu Akbar!”
12 posted on 10/19/2011 3:23:55 AM PDT by Happy Rain ( "Many of the most useful idiots of the Left are on the Right.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
You don't need teleprompters when speaking to a first grade class.


13 posted on 10/19/2011 3:27:25 AM PDT by chemicalman (The more support I see,the harder I want to work,and the more determined I am not to let folks down.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chemicalman

Gosh, why would any fair-minded person mock that?


14 posted on 10/19/2011 3:35:55 AM PDT by gusopol3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Happy Rain

Obama needs a teleprompter to answer “yes” or “no”.


15 posted on 10/19/2011 3:37:12 AM PDT by monocle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

So now a teleprompter is a mark of competence and intelligence?


16 posted on 10/19/2011 3:52:30 AM PDT by arthurus (Read Hazlitt's "Economics In One Lesson.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

The teleprompter always makes me wonder whose words he is reading.


17 posted on 10/19/2011 3:53:40 AM PDT by arthurus (Read Hazlitt's "Economics In One Lesson.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

18 posted on 10/19/2011 3:54:38 AM PDT by mazda77 (and I am a Native Texan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

He had a 5 minute speech about Lincoln, and he used a teleprompter. Lincoln. He’s black. He was in the IL legislature. In Springfield. 5 minutes. He had nothing.


19 posted on 10/19/2011 3:56:01 AM PDT by steveyp
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: monocle

Tagline change


20 posted on 10/19/2011 3:57:44 AM PDT by cake_crumb (I'm not racist, I don't like his white half either.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson