Obama's speeches "have the lowest grade average of any modern president"

[Soul Crusher]

State of the Union registers at 8th grade reading level
 Comments (54)  By BYRON TAU | 1/25/12 9:53 AM EST
(Jay Westcott/POLITICO)



President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level, on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.

The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude.

"The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains.

Obama's use of simple language  is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.


http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/state-of-the-union-registers-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html





no wonder obama refuses to release his grades and transcripts.  

[Shockwave]

State of the Union registers at 8th grade reading level
 Comments (54)  By BYRON TAU | 1/25/12 9:53 AM EST
(Jay Westcott/POLITICO)



President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level, on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.

The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude.

"The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains.

Obama's use of simple language  is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.


http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/state-of-the-union-registers-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html





no wonder obama refuses to release his grades and transcripts.  

To be fair bro, he doesnt write those, and it speaks volumes more of the people he's speaking TO than who is speaking.
Those things are written to pander to a certain audience - in this case, the American public who he's trying to coerce into voting for him again.
To me, this just goes to show how stupid the average US citizen has become.

[240 is Back]

lol @ bitching about anything

[Soul Crusher]

lol @ bitching about anything

Just seems like the so called smartest most intelligent potus harvard lawyer genius cant even best that moron GWB in his diction. 

[240 is Back]

Just seems like the so called smartest most intelligent potus harvard lawyer genius cant even best that moron GWB in his diction. 

remember how smart bush was as govenor?  speaking a mile a min about complex issues.

then, he had to sloooow dowwwwwn as president.   Everything was small calculated phrases.  most getbiggers are above 100 IQ - i mean, we're mostly highly educated and enjoy politics over pot all day.  And half of us are clueless.  how stupid are the american idol viewers who watch the prez speak about 3x a year, when their primetime tv makes them?

most newspapers are written at 8th grade level too.  it's just like obama was reading the paper to them.

[Shockwave]

remember how smart bush was as govenor?  speaking a mile a min about complex issues.

then, he had to sloooow dowwwwwn as president.   Everything was small calculated phrases.  most getbiggers are above 100 IQ - i mean, we're mostly highly educated and enjoy politics over pot all day.  And half of us are clueless.  how stupid are the american idol viewers who watch the prez speak about 3x a year, when their primetime tv makes them?

most newspapers are written at 8th grade level too.  it's just like obama was reading the paper to them.

Yeah, have to agree here.
Bush was not a moron, but at least he was straight up about who he was - he didnt lie to the American public while fucking us, he just straight up fucked us.
Americans as a whole have turned into fucking dumbshits in recent history. The presidents advisors know this - they write to pander to their audience.
Clearly their audience is a bunch of fucking morons.
And the terrible thing about that - is that the majority of Americans are morons, cause those speeches seem to work.

[Soul Crusher]

bump for blackass 

[blacken700]

sooo          yoooouuu           caaaannnn           undddderstannnnd 

[Fury]

bump for blackass 

The Usurper would have to dumb them down another 3 or 4 grade levels and make them rhyme if Simple Jack Blacken wants a chance of understanding them.

[blacken700]

The Usurper would have to dumb them down another 3 or 4 grade levels and make them rhyme if Simple Jack Blacken wants a chance of understanding them.

oh boy here we go  so berzerk fury you little nerdy geek hows it going,break time at the burger king,being a shift leader to you get 20 minutes instead of 15.

[Soul Crusher]

oh boy here we go  so berzerk fury you little nerdy geek hows it going,break time at the burger king,being a shift leader to you get 20 minutes instead of 15.

You chooming today? 

[240 is Back]

Bush was a brilliant man who spoke a mile a minute about complex economic terms when governor.

as president, he spoke very slowly and clearly.  Remember, they're not trying to impress young minds like ours.  They're trained to speak at a pace and level that is their base.

[Soul Crusher]

Bush was a brilliant man who spoke a mile a minute about complex economic terms when governor.

as president, he spoke very slowly and clearly.  Remember, they're not trying to impress young minds like ours.  They're trained to speak at a pace and level that is their base.

So obama's base is middle schoolers' and freshman in HS? 

[240 is Back]

So obama's base is middle schoolers' and freshman in HS? 

most newspapers are written that low also.

i guess you want to bitch and whine about everything possible, but this is just him speaking to the majority of voters, and as you already know, the majority of americans are slow and stupid.

Youre a lawyer, i'm a 5th tier MBA, we have lots of grad school ppl on getbig poli.   Most TV viewers are dropouts or barely literate.

I guess what you're getting at is 1) obama is only as smart as a middle schooler (in which case youre wrong and we all know it)
or 2) Obama voters are stupid (in which case, thanks, captain obvious...) lol

[Soul Crusher]

most newspapers are written that low also.

i guess you want to bitch and whine about everything possible, but this is just him speaking to the majority of voters, and as you already know, the majority of americans are slow and stupid.

Youre a lawyer, i'm a 5th tier MBA, we have lots of grad school ppl on getbig poli.   Most TV viewers are dropouts or barely literate.

I guess what you're getting at is 1) obama is only as smart as a middle schooler (in which case youre wrong and we all know it)
or 2) Obama voters are stupid (in which case, thanks, captain obvious...) lol

Truth, but sad nonetheless.     

[240 is Back]

Truth, but sad nonetheless.     

yep.  SO while we're being honest, predict the tax return outcome for romney.  Does he eventuall cave and relase some/all?

[Soul Crusher]

yep.  SO while we're being honest, predict the tax return outcome for romney.  Does he eventuall cave and relase some/all?

Don't know - he should have released everything right after Florida. 

[240 is Back]

Don't know - he should have released everything right after Florida. 

George will things there might be a campaign-killer in there.

He said romney believes the damage done by them will be bigger than nonstop talk about them.

And - Do you think it will LEAK by someone, legally or illegally, before the election?

[Soul Crusher]

George will things there might be a campaign-killer in there.

He said romney believes the damage done by them will be bigger than nonstop talk about them.

And - Do you think it will LEAK by someone, legally or illegally, before the election?

Yes. 

[Fury]

oh boy here we go  so berzerk fury you little nerdy geek hows it going,break time at the burger king,being a shift leader to you get 20 minutes instead of 15.

Thanks for proving my point. I've seen elementary students with better command of the English language.

America's public schools at work.

[240 is Back]

Yes. 

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe so too.  I'm SURE it'll happen.  OBama has exec power, he can read anything he wants, and I'm sure they'll be leaked in some way.

The problem for repubs is that obama will leak it right before the elections.

imagine the Halloween headline "ROmney paid zero taxes for 7 years and used swiss bank acct amnesty to save another $40 mil in taxes"
or worse lol.

He would lose the election, dude.  He would lose.  Imagine that - "Mr romney, you spent a decade as a millionaire not paying taxes, you don't work for us..."

And a growing number of repubs believe what we do - that it'll come out.

[doison]

I had a (very) short-lived column for a magazine.  I was told to write at an 8th grade level because that was the reading level of the average reader.