White House Talking Points

It's difficult to approach political language without making a partisan statement; it's best, perhaps, to let the language speak for itself.

Scott McClellan, press secretary at the White House, repeats himself during his press briefing. Often. These repetitions, of a few carefully phrased sentence fragments, follow on one another in answer to every question. Their phrasing indicates what's on the White House's mind, which images it wishes to evoke and which impressions it wishes to avoid.

The series takes Scott McClellan's press briefings once or twice a week and cuts them down to only talking points, without repetitions, in their original order. If he says it eleven times in the sound file, he said it eleven times during a thirty-minute press briefing.

The clips last from a minute and a half to two minutes, and I would love to hear from PD's on what they would need - music, pauses for host comments - to work these files into programming.

They have thus far been featured on my own website, mistakesweremade.org, and wonkette.com, a high-traffic Washington-based political blog. Hide full description

It's difficult to approach political language without making a partisan statement; it's best, perhaps, to let the language speak for itself. Scott McClellan, press secretary at the White House, repeats himself during his press briefing. Often. These repetitions, of a few carefully phrased sentence fragments, follow on one another in answer to every question. Their phrasing indicates what's on the White House's mind, which images it wishes to evoke and which impressions it wishes to avoid. The series takes Scott McClellan's press briefings once or twice a week and cuts them down to only talking points, without repetitions, in their original order. If he says it eleven times in the sound file, he said it eleven times during a thirty-minute press briefing. The clips last from a... Show full description