http://wexmain.newsok.com/article/2595934/?no_cache=1&no_edit=1&show_all=1Byron York: How Trump speaks
By Byron York (@ByronYork) • 7/7/16 10:36 PM
Donald Trump's speech in Cincinnati Wednesday night astonished even those in the press corps and political world who have spent a long time watching Donald Trump speeches. As Trump talked and talked — the speech lasted 68 minutes — some took to Twitter to express amazement, and in some cases, outrage.
"Can anyone think of a speech by a major-party candidate to compare to Trump's raving performance tonight in Cincy?" wrote Politico's Glenn Thrush.
"This is the craziest speech I've ever heard since last night which was the craziest speech I'd ever heard," wrote Commentary's John Podhoretz, who had also watched Trump's Tuesday speech in North Carolina.
"We shouldn't be talking about anything but Clinton's flagrant abuse of classified info but Trump wants to exercise his right to word vomit," wrote Republican strategist and former Eric Cantor aide Rory Cooper.
Any hostility to Trump aside, there appears to be a serious disconnect, a communications gap, between those who cover and comment on Trump and those who support him and come to his rallies. Trump is simply so far outside the conventions of political oratory that his style is sometimes hard for political professionals to grasp.
The first thing to remember is that Trump does not give a speech in the sense that veteran political strategists or reporters recognize and understand a speech. From the very beginning of his campaign, Trump has expressed contempt for the entire genre of political speechmaking.
Speaking at a giant rally in Dallas last September, Trump started off by noting that he wasn't using a teleprompter. "That would be so much easier," he said. "We read a speech for 45 minutes. Everybody falls asleep, listening to the same old stuff, the same old lies. So much easier."
On many other occasions — at rallies, debates, other appearances — Trump has expressed a fear of boring his audience, of putting everyone to sleep. He is determined not to do that.
Instead of a prepared stump speech that he gives over and over again — the standard diet for political reporters covering the presidential race — Trump instead has chosen to deliver a stream of consciousness performance designed to capitalize on his celebrity, to entertain, to attack opponents, and to address the actual issues in the race. And most of all, to keep his audience awake and paying attention.
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