Posted 9:00 AM by Paul
American Political Language

The results of the Iowa caucuses have just come in and to everybody's surprise Howard Dean came in a very poor third. It reminded me of how the style of communication in politics is critical to the content. The same passion and indignation that drew attention to Dean's campaign may have now destroyed it. When Democrats in Iowa came to choose they stepped back from his style of politics. Quite simply he started to sound frightening at a time when they were looking for reassurance and strength. All Dean's shouting turned them off.

On both sides of the Atlantic voters have become used to a more intimate style of communication via TV. The day time talk show rather than the stump speech. In fact Dean is not particularly Left Wing in any sense that a European would understand the term. A fiscal Conservative who received a commendation from the NRA Dean is hardly George McGovern. His problem is not so much content as style. He started to sound a bit like a demagogue. A bit nuts. His end of campaign speech only confirmed people's worse fears. Few things are more telling in the life of a politician than the way they accept defeat. It looks like it will be over in a couple of weeks for the man from the land of Ben and Jerry's.

As far as language is concerned, the opposite can also be true. We have a Mayor in London who has promulgated a fairly Left Wing platform and opposed the Bush State visit. However, he did most of this in modulated tones that would not be out of place in a cricket commentator. Voters feel reassured that Ken Livingstone is a man of the people rather than some hair brained extremist. He even attracts votes from Conservatives. You might not be a big fan but you have to admire his style. You can imagine having a drink in the pub with him or a chat on a train, something I did with Ken in 1986. He was reviewing Carl Sagan's "Contact" and he asked me if I believed that their might be intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos. If he were an American he would make an excellent successor to Arnie as Governor of California.

As a political junkie I am looking forward to the primaries, which is just as well because I doubt if the real thing in November 2004 will be mcuh fun. On to New Hampshire. Such a shame that Oprah is not on the stump.