Enervating Bushspeak versus empowering Deanspeak

From BadCulture - Renana Brooks has written a deeply interesting article for the Nation which argues that President Bush strives to create dependency in his listeners through negative and dominating language.

According to Brooks, Bush uses several different verbal tactics to achieve these goals:

Empty language...
... contentless phrases like "No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit," which distract listeners and falsely simplify a situation. Brooks writes, "Empty language is the emotional equivalent of empty calories. Just as we seldom question the content of potato chips while enjoying their pleasurable taste, recipients of empty language are usually distracted from examining the content of what they are hearing."

Personalization...
... in which the speaker constantly refers to his own agency as the only explanation or action necessary. Brooks cites Joan Didion on Bush: "As Didion writes: '"I made up my mind," he had said in April, "that Saddam needs to go." This was one of many curious, almost petulant statements offered in lieu of actually presenting a case. I've made up my mind, I've said in speech after speech, I've made myself clear. The repeated statements became their own reason.'"

Negative framework...
... in which a pessimistic world view is reinforced, helping create a feeling of helplessness and reliance upon Bush. After citing examples of Bush's scare tactics in the wake of 9-11 and the buildup to the Iraq War, Brooks writes, "To create a dependency dynamic between him and the electorate, Bush describes the nation as being in a perpetual state of crisis and then attempts to convince the electorate that it is powerless and that he is the only one with the strength to deal with it. He attempts to persuade people they must transfer power to him, thus crushing the power of the citizen, the Congress, the Democratic Party, even constitutional liberties, to concentrate all power in the imperial presidency and the Republican Party."

In comparison, here's a little text from Howard Dean's announcement of his presidental campaign:

Here are the words of John Winthrop: “We shall be as one. We must delight in each other, make other’s conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always living before our eyes our Commission and Community in our work.”

It is that ideal, the ideal of the American community, that we seek to restore.

An America where it is not enough for me to want health care for my family – but the obligation, and responsibility of every one of us as American citizens to insure that each one of us has health care for our families.

An America where it is not enough for me to want good public schools and a better life for my children – but an obligation, and a responsibility as citizens to insure that every child in America may go to a good public school and have the opportunity of a better life.

An America where it is not enough to protect my rights under the law but where it is a duty and an obligation for each of us as Americans to make sure every American is equal under the law.

An America where it is not enough to proclaim the words freedom, self-government, and democracy, but where it is a duty and a responsibility to participate together in common purpose with the sacrifice required of each of us to give those words meaning.

While Bush is talking about danger and threats which only he can deal with, Dean is talking about challenges and opportunities that all of us have the responsibility to work toward realizing.

It's morning in America, all over again, but this time I think the sunny language is going to benefit the Democrats.