NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER A Failure to Communicate BY ALFRED S. REGNERY T HE OTHER DAY I WAS WITH NEWT GINGRICH, who commented that the most important aspect of getting one's message across is...
...It is tough to be convincing if you have no programs and ideas to start with...
...Who can forget Reagan's 1982 "Evil Empire" speech before the House of Commons or his 1983 nationally televised speech on the Strategic Defense Initiative...
...The President initially announced that he would introduce three large initiatives, none of which were introduced in Congress as administration bills, and only one of which, creating one large enterprise zone, has been passed into law...
...But it is little wonder that this President's ratings continue to sink as he fails even to try to articulate what he stands for...
...The first question is just what the policy actually is...
...Ronald Reagan was not known as the Great Communicator for nothing, and after a lifetime on the stage, on speaker's platforms, and in politics he knew just the right words and phrases to make his case...
...The editors here at The American Spectator pride themselves on their writing ability, and every issue of the magazine is reviewed with Wlady's eagle eye, looking for any error in grammar or syntax...
...The obvious result is that nobody is satisfied, most of those affected are frustrated, and the rest of us cannot understand why it costs so much...
...Alfred S. Regnery is publisher of The American Spectator and is writing a book on the conservative movement...
...For years we spoke of "]imousine liberals," until somebody came up with the even more derogatory "Volvo-driving liberal," depriving the poor things of any modicum of style...
...He also carefully explained what his program was, and then consistently followed through with legislation or policy initiatives, actually doing what he said he was going to do...
...Is it thus any surprise, asked Newt, that George W. Bush, who seems to pride himself on his inarticulateness, is having trouble convincing more than 35 percent of the population that his administration is on course...
...Of course the President's malapropisms-"they misunderestimated me," and "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family" (I'm not making this up), and even "It's about past seven in the evening here so we're actually in different time lines"--are amusing, but the problem is, unfortunately, more complicated than that...
...Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, Whittaker Chambers, and William E Bucldey Jr...
...Newt just may have a point...
...4 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR MARCH 2006...
...The President mentioned nothing about Katrina recovery in his State of the Union address except to brag that $85 billion has been spent so far, and to say how important it is to provide schools that teach every child and to learn job skills that bring upward mobility...
...As for the Bush administration, let us use its hurricane-response policy as an example of inarticulateness...
...It should come as no surprise that liberalism finds fewer and fewer people in its camp...
...were all master wordsmiths whose books and articles were persuasive not only for their reasoning but for their rhetoric...
...Both resounded with the public, both resulted in huge efforts by Reagan and his administration, and both had historic repercussions...
...The administration has subsequently offered a number of different proposals and criticized others...
...Meanwhile, liberals' attempts to stereotype conservatives usually fall flat...
...Right and left have spent years trying to portray each other negatively through the use of phrases that convey an unshakeable image of derision...
...NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER A Failure to Communicate BY ALFRED S. REGNERY T HE OTHER DAY I WAS WITH NEWT GINGRICH, who commented that the most important aspect of getting one's message across is the articulate use of language...
...Few have Ronald Reagan's ability to communicate...
...The great success of the conservative movement is at least partially attributable to careful use of the English language...
...How many times during the Alito hearings did we hear the worn-out "far outside the mainstream," or a tired reference to the Judge's "radical right" concepts of justice...
Vol. 39 • March 2006 • No. 2
