For what it’s worth: Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin fed transcripts of 271 televised interviews, news conferences, town hall meetings and candidate debates from the 2004 presidential campaign into a computer text-analysis program that matches words and linguistic patterns identified with various traits and personalities. Their conclusions about President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. John Kerry and former Sen. John Edwards, as reported by Washington Post columnist Richard Morin:
“Cheney easily sounded the smartest of the four, while Edwards and Bush favored the least sophisticated language patterns. . . . When it came to sounding presidential, both Bush and his running mate scored considerably higher than Kerry or Edwards. Bush was the oldest-sounding candidate. Edwards also was the most likely to use feminine speech patterns and ‘female’ words (Bush was a close second), while Cheney sounded most like a man’s man.
“The vice president sounded the most honest of the four, and Kerry the least. Kerry’s language also was most like that of a depressed person, followed by Edwards.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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24 Comments
“Cheney easily sounded the smartest of the four.”
You know your program is totally messed up when that happens. Back to the code, boys.
“The vice president sounded the most honest of the four”
Shows the value of acting training/coaching.
I’d say their computer needs a tune up.
Further? I have troubles with anything out of the University of Texas at Austin.That and the fact that this “story” was broke nationally by Rush Limbaugh leaves me to ask what your agenda is for putting it here Phil.
This is idiotic. Running speeches through a computer for “depressing” or “feminine” language.
They should run Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” through the program. The computer would probably blow a fuse . . .
How smart did Cheney sound when he said, “There is NO DOUBT that Saddam Hussein has Weapons of Mass Destruction”?
Or when he said that the insurgency was “dead enders” and “in the last throes”?
How smart is that?
Sounds reminiscent of the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer, which had a whopping 50% accuracy in detecting a liar. I’ll put it in that catagory!
A person who is delusional will sound very honest – he honestly believes the voices in his head!
The campaign was nowhere near as depressing as the last 5+ years have been. And we wonder why the use of anti-depressants is increasing.
On the contrary, RD, I’d say the campaign was at least twice as depressing as the last 5+ years.
Kerry was a true dud whose dud factor maximized when Edwards wasn’t added to the ticket as Prez. You could see that Kerry was an idiot from a mile away; his nomination told voters they could stay with the idiot they had and knew (Bush) or trade him in for a Democrat idiot of unknown dimension. The only real Democrat thinker was Edwards, and he was an economic protectionist swimming against the tide and wanting validation (votes) for it.
I would also say that these results are interesting because, to me, they are not surprising. Of the 4 men the 2 babe-houndest, Bush and Edwards, trended to “feminine” usage patterns.
I knew it. ;)
By the way, UT is one of the best universities in the world, and Austin is more liberal than even Lawrence, KS, in my opinion.
Ask kfg and CF.
With a tongue that forked, how does he keep from lisping?
I meant Cheney.
The good news is that the presidential elections in 2008 will be the last in this nation’s history. Yee Haw!!!!!!!!!!
Viva La Revolucion Blanco!!!
Ha ha! I think this is funny. There is some truth to it though. I mean Kerry was a bore. Edwards? Yikes!
Although Bush sucks, Cheney da man.
Kerry could have done better if he dumped Edwards. I think that was one of his greatest mistakes. Cost him the Presidency really.
I would really like to see how Ralph Nader would fair in this analysis program. Probably would have blown all four of them away.
Agreed flike. Austin makes boston blush when they compare liberalism. And UT is a great university. A world class university. With academic freedom, something kansas would know little about.
Austin would never have become Austin without the university. And just to prove how liberal Austin is…
Every other year, we all take bets on what anti-austin legislation will take up legislative time for the session. The conservative lawmaker nut cases from the wingnut areas of texas are ALWAYS introducing legislation to punish Austin… and UT!
(Does that sound familiar susan?)
At least in Texas, they limit the damage the legislators can do by only allowing them to meet every two years. I think, for some reason, that was easier than electing SANE legislators. Again, something kansas would know nothing about.
Just like kansans hate lawrence, texans of the taliban bent hate austin in general and UT.
You KNOW that makes it a good university and a good town!
Kansas hates Lawrence? You got to be kidding me. I’ve never heard that.
I’m under the impression that Kansas hates Wichita.
Cheney da man? Huh? He’s certainly smarter than Bush, but. . .have you been following the news lately, Joe?
I think this voice-analysis thing is a little overrated. People have their own perceptions. To me, Kerry sounded kinda like Roosevelt on demerol. Cheney always sounds like he’s trying to not to strain himself, fearing another heart attack.
flike, I disagree somewhat. Or maybe I just see it from a different viewpoint. I’d rather have a president who makes sense when he speaks, even if it means I have to pay attention to what he’s saying, than have a president who not only lies, but even his lies don’t make a lick of sense because he can’t string four words together that are coherent.
Kerry has always been of the more serious and ’studios’, while George has always been the dumb good ol’ boy. Clinton seemed to mix the two and had the charisma to pull it off. Kerry lacks that charisma and GW doesn’t know what the word means.
There is a perception (not entirely undeserved) that Lawrence is the Berkeley of Kansas.
Joe, Kansas is FILLED with haters, so there is probably enough room for the state to hate both towns.
I think Kansas hates lawrence worse because of KU and the damned intellectuals it draws to ks.
Maybe we should ask susan that question as the lite gov candidate?
Maybe Stephen Colbert and Kos have some insight into why democrats sound depressed. When I read this, first I laughed, and then I got sad…
Markos: We have found that the Republicans are really good at telling you when you can be born, they’re good at telling you when you can die, but not very good at the stuff in between.
Colbert: Here’s the best way we can stop all this partisan bickering-One party…
“The vice president sounded the most honest of the four, and Kerry the least.”
No big surprise here…flip flop, flip flop, flip flop…
“Kerry’s language also was most like that of a depressed person, followed by Edwards.”
Kerry should have been a mortician.
Funny line, NoJo. Though I heard a better one: Kerry walks into a bar; bartender looks at him and says “Why the long face?”
BTW, care to join the party?:http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2006/04/leaker_in_chief.html
What a lot of baloney.
DAMN WINDOWS!!!