Ok, the Second Coming's new popularity (see my earlier post) is really getting out of hand. Who do I here the "... best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.." line coming from? None other than Al "I am a robot" Gore, at a meeting of Florida Democrats. Now, special interests and Enron-style corruption may indeed be an important national issue, but I don't see them leading to the Apocalypse of Yeats' poem. Are Republicans really drowning the ceremony of innocence?

Which brings me to the wider issue: why are Democratic speeches so bad? Gore's wooden delivery makes the boring cardboard cutout nature of his speeches all the more obvious. These speeches are either patronizing (watching Gore preach to minorities during the 2000 campaign was exceptionally offensive), whiny, or plain incoherent.

Clinton, love him or hate him, was probably the best presidential orator of the 20th century. His emotive, sensitive performance usually made you forget that his speeches were so vague as to be meaningless, or, worse yet, filled with bold-faced lies. Bush's oration is probably his weakest features, but the brilliant mix of idealistic imagery and hyperbole of his speechwriters have produced some great speeches. Could you imagine if Clinton's slick charm was coupled with the speeches to come out of Bush post 9-11? He'd probably get himself named President-for-life.