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talkpoliticsObama's speech in Charlotte was nice. A good mix of well-rehearsed cliches and more Hope. Except... he never deviated from the preliminarily written text, which had been duly composed by his writers and uploaded on his teleprompter. And why should he? As if any politician does that these days. The teleprompter has become the politician's best friend, has it not? In any case, looks much better than hand notes.
Makes you wonder what would happen if some teleprompter suddenly popped somewhere. Let's say a short circuit or something. Suddenly the States become 57, and Sheiks acquire temples. Even the most rehearsed Re-start could suddenly turn into an Overcharge.
Or just... this. :O
Just a day before Obama's speech in Charlotte, Bill "Romney had a sterling biz career" Clinton stood on the very same scene for almost an hour, and also appeared to be using a 'prompter. Not sure if I should call it "using" though - more like the 'prompter was that weird looking tech gadget that gave him hints and tips during his speech, but it was hardly used all the time. Just on the contrary: Clinton looked like he was rather trying to run away from it. Oh well, he's from the old school after all. Thing is, his speech would've probably lasted half that time if he had used the damn thing to its full capacity. He was making those rambly diversions away from the topic after almost every paragraph, addressing the public, asking questions, adding side remarks that came to his mind as he went through the speech. You know, it looked like his brain was actually working, even if not as fast as it used to in the good old days.
I wonder what was going on in the head of the tech guy who was controlling the 'prompter while Clinton was speaking. Must've been a horrible head-ache for them. You've gotta be a skilled master at handling that gadget in order to keep up with the ever changing tempo. Kindof like an orchestra conductor. As Nathaniel Stein from The New Yorker observed, "Bill Clinton doesn’t read from a Teleprompter: he converses with it. He talks back when it has omitted a crucial detail; he one-ups it when its rhetorical flourish is insufficient." One of the reasons for this being that Clinton likes the sound of his voice, and he's such a master of speech that he constantly improves his, during the very process of delivering it in public.
In a related article, Michael Schulman tells the curious story about the first teleprompter gaffes. During the 1952 GOP convention, Hoover started by talking very slowly and mumbling under his nose. "This damn thing, I'd do much better without it", he told the 'prompter.
Actually the teleprompter made its debut a couple of years before that Hoover speech. Nowadays it's being used by all US presidents and many politicians (Bush was also talented at this art). But, due to his complete dependence on the gadget that he has developed with time, Obama was the one who has earned the label "Reader In Chief".
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton continues to earn the ovation of the media even at this advanced age, his affair with the teleprompter being more a "freestyling" one rather than a "love" affair. He improvises in a way Miles Davis and Beethoven would've probably created a piece of art where none existed while standing on stage. But not everyone could be so awesome, because that's a rare talent. And Obama seems to have lost much of his charismatic aura that used to capture the imagination of the crowds back in 2008. (I'm not even going to discuss Romney's awkward laughs and grins, he hardly qualifies in the same league at all).
Some journalists who are closely following the campaign trail are joking that they should probably organize a contest for best teleprompting-moment photo. If such a contest existed, this pic would've definitely won it:
It's from Obama's speech in Cleveland, and some of the comments are hilarious: "Only the 'prompter knows what Obama is gong to say", and, "Would you trust a man who needs a teleprompter to tell you what they believe?" Btw the spin is fascinating on its own, indeed.
One thing is for sure. The "teleprompter operator" profession seems to be a very promising one. And if you thought it's just a simple job, don't be fooled! It's art in its own worth! And the demand for skilled prompter guys will only be increasing!
Ps. Remember the Hillary nutcracker doll? That wasn't nice, was it? Well, now behold the Obama teleprompter Jedi doll!
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Date: 13/9/12 17:55 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 13/9/12 18:00 (UTC)It was way better in the good old times when the text appeared in funny rectangular green letters...
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Date: 14/9/12 03:16 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 13/9/12 18:10 (UTC)Citation needed!
Oh wait. Proving a negative should be double-rewarded.
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Date: 13/9/12 18:36 (UTC)And even then, he stuttered!
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Date: 14/9/12 03:08 (UTC)makes Bushismsmakes errors while speaking.(no subject)
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