Master Orator Barack Obama’s State Of The Union Speech Registers At An 8th Grade Reading Level…
But . . . but . . . but . . . he’s the smartest president evah!
Via Politico:
President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level, on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.
The University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama’s three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. “Obama’s average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors,” they conclude.
“The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores,” the University of Minnesota’s Eric Ostermeier explains.
Obama’s use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it’s part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.
Posted by ZIP on Wednesday, January 25, 2012, at 10:07 am | 
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8th grade level? The democrats must have hired it written.
Talking to his base…
8th graders are the only ones who he can still bullshit and get by with it…..
Was it that way because he is stupid or because he thinks we are stupid?
That’s fantastic! Condescension is now an approved political tool. He doesn’t have to feign respect for the American Electorate anymore. He can be his regular old self.
“Obama’s use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience”
And that’d be the people who, when asked who they support, chant “Ohh-Baahh-Mahh, Ohh-Baahh-Mahh…”
There was one of those among the Frank Luntz group last night who lapsed into that when Luntz asked who they’d be voting for this November, very large woman in front row yelled out louder (of course) than the entire group, that chanting.
Those are the hypnotized, gullible, emotiionally needy people who Obama appeals to and who he needs to talk to in simple, “8th grade level” “words”. They don’t understand too much more than that and they are just lulled along by Obama’s flirtatious greed.
Now we know why Ellison wants to lower the voting age.
8th grade level? That’s like 8 grades above the average O-bot, which are at kindergarden level.
“logan51498 says:
Was it that way because he is stupid or because he thinks we are stupid?”
Well, I think everyone who voted for him is stupid so…
Well, unfortunately, that’s the level at which most people in this country read. For example, doctors are trained to communicate at this level. A quick review of this blogs reader comments will confirm this fact.
8th Grade Level?
Then I guess they had to have Ayers write it for them.
O no doubt could have given a more intellectual speech but….he knew he had to reach his base.
That is probably the education level of the majority of his voters. You can’t be too educated to continue to fall for his garbage.
More proof that the elites in this administration believe the nation is comprised of nothing but idiots.
Don’t speak down to us… just speak to us.
Life imitates art- Idiocracy writ large, brought to an unwilling public by the King (Queen?) of the Idiots.
Talking down to the citizenry, appealing to its dumber and baser instincts. How charming.
That’s what I call winning the future…the soetero way!
All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
WSC
Unfortunately Obama understands none of them.
@tadcf:
“A quick review of this blogs reader comments will confirm this fact.”
Indeed. Believe you meant to use the possessive and not the plural above- the word in the sentence should be “blog’s”, not “blogs”.
Thank you for confirmimg the “fact” of eighth grade level literacy in this country.
Unfortunately, Barry is simply reflecting the literacy level in the US.
Blame it on the deplorable education system and the fact that the over-payed unionized educators do not teach reading, writing and arithmetic very well anymore.
This particular criticism is misguided. Good writing rates at a pretty low grade level, just because it’s better writing.
The grade level refers to the proficiency necessary to read it, not to write it.
Bad writers typically write at a 12th grade level. Think bureaucrat.
The trouble with Obama’s speeches is that the content is 8th grade level.
BET provided ebonics closed captioning.
@Grass Mud Horsey
ZINGGGG!!!!
If you think Barry matriculated at either Columbia or Harvard Law, you are sorely mistaken. Of course his records won’t be released. He has none. His literacy level is rather low.
aite grad3?
whaz zat,
is dat doz smarty pants kids skuol?
OHBONGO!! OHBONGO!!
OHBONGO!! OHBONGO!!
OHBONGO!! OHBONGO!!
hu kares whoht he say, he shor look smaht!
Pardon my french but what else would you expect from an ignorant, badly undereducated, inarticulate dumb fuck like Obuttma?
Look kiddies at a picture of the nations all time worst president we ever had
Yup,fkn high school term paper crap
ALL of you are toally missing the point.
Its not about who gave the speech, its about who they thought it was being given TO.
All Democrats see us as a bunch of ignorant little children, thus they talk down to us b/c they see us as intellectually inferior to their greatness.
That’s exactly the reading level that IBM manuals were required to NOT exceed starting in the early ’80s!–’8th-grade level’.
I won’t try to say that we should be glad it hasn’t sunk below this level in 30 years….no, I won’t.
Where is that asteroid?
I see maney coralations to Bush here when he was critisized for reading to school children.
I did notice that at least the book president Bush was reading had words
Obamas book has no writing, but look at glorious me!
Obama should tell them how he has disroyed their future in the guise of ” economic fairness” which is a code word for BS
Actually, my complaint is that the speeches have become a showcase for bullshit applauses rather than an honest account of the “State of the Union”, and this is most especialy so in hussein’s case.
And back when Chapaqudic Ted was doing ITSY BITSY SPIDER with the kids
@Grass Mud….
Nice.
@tadcf
LMAO… a little aloe will help with the sting, and would you like ketchup with your shoe leather?
Cracking smart Harvard law school graduate.. or so he claims..
I guess he wanted to make sure the First Yeti could understand it.
I am actually impressed he could get up that far. It really is a shame that Dopey Joe could not handle most of the words. Perhaps if the pResident used finger puppets he would be able to reach a larger percent of his Democratic constituents.
@shadow
‘ALL of you are toally missing the point.’
refer to my 10:51am post
“Obama’s use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: ”
Yeah. Stupid-assed, clueless collectivists.
And the teacher unions are proud of this…
Actually, it’s my understanding that you should aim for an eight grade reading level in documents that will be submitted to the public.
The reasoning behind this is that it will appeal to a larger audience.
So, as much as I would love to insult O’Dumbler on this, I can’t.
Sorry, eighth not ‘eight’ grade reading level.
Apparently a majority of the country is at 8th grade reading level because according to a CBS poll 91% of listeners approved of what he had to say.
LOL. So the SOTU address reads at at an 8th grade level. And your first thought is that this must say something about the combined intellect of the team of professional speechwriters who prepared this public address, rather than the intended audience for the speech, the American public.
This is hilarious.
“My Pet Goat”. Hmmmm, why did Bush pick such a dumb author to read to those schoolkiddies. ahahaha