Political Applause Lines [by Bob Kerrey]

Bob Kerrey, president of the New School, has analyzed the structure of effective political applause lines: Reagan in a "debate" saying that he wouldn't hold Mondale's youth against him; Lloyd Bentsen telling Dan Quayle that he bears no resemblance to John Kennedy; Ann Richards's observation that George Bush #41 was born with a silver foot in his mouth. We tend to remember the line itself but forget the set-up. Here is Bob's analysis of how it gets done. And Bob knows: remember, he represented Nebraska in the US Senate for two terms and before that he was the state's governor. And yesterday was his birthday!
Take it away, Bob.-- DL

<<<
First and foremost, an applause line must sound good. The cadence is crucial. When Al Gore said, "it's time for them to go," he relied on an iambic trimeter line to galvanize the crowd.

The ideal applause line measures 24 to 26 seconds and can, as a result, be converted into a 30 second television or internet ad. The structure has three parts:

   Part One: An observation, eg  Most rooms in America have four sides.

   Part Two: An assertion that the thing observed is good or bad, eg Square rooms are turning our children into walled-in squares

   Part Three:  A promise to end the negative or implement the positive, eg When I am elected I will see to it that kids burst out of the walls of inhibition into the open air of freedom.

If the observed phenomenon is obvious and the speaker is pretty confident that the audience is hip, then Part Three may be all that is needed:  "And I shall not cease from mental fight until we build a university without walls" or "With your help I will make sure that the city of the future depends not on the squares of the past but the circles of perfection." 

My favorite example from Tuesday night's DNC convention was Brian Sweitzer's: "The petro dictators will never own American wind and sunshine!" He had a set up line, but he didn't need it.

Challenge to readers: Make a three-part applause line in favor of free sunglasses for everyone, because the August sun can be blinding.

-- Bob Kerrey
>>>

Comments

[Connie Fell]

Tanka (haiku stanza plus two seven-syllable lines) may not be what you have in mind, Sir Bob, but here goes anyway:

August sun too bright:
"O my Eyes," cried Oedipus,
The blind democrat.

So I say to you: free sun-
Glasses for all the people!

[Bob Kerrey]

Yes, that is what I have in mind. Could you speak these words aloud and bring an audience to its feet? Can you imagine applauding wildly if someone did the same? There is a rhetorical device in an applause line that connects to something very old in us. My uncle farmed in Iowa and raised turkeys. Those turkeys were the best audience I ever had. They would applaud (gobble enthusiastically) at every line I uttered. We humans are much more discriminating.

I applauded (in the privacy of my home) these words last night:

If Senator McCain wants to have a debate
about who has the best temperament and judgement
to be commander in chief,
I am ready to have that debate.

It worked because I knew already knew Part One (John McCain says he can be commander in chief and I cannot) and Part Two (He's wrong).

And it worked because he demonstrated with the line what it takes to be commander in chief.

Time for breakfast.

[DL]

I agree, Bob: the line about having the right "temperament and judgment" to be commander-in-chief was a bull's eye.

[tesla]

I like McCain's speeches.

His chosen interests and career paths are, of course, far different than those pursued by aspiring performers. McCain's tenor has good qualities, though. His voice is more subtle than overstimulated audiences choose to recognize, but such voices incorporate the word they express, and resonate to good effect.

[tesla]

Sunglasses are readily available from itinerant opticians. Of course, Coppelius also provides Olympia's eyes.