John A. Farrell

McCain Speech: I, Me, Mine

September 5, 2008 RSS Feed Print

I, Me, Mine

At one point in his speech last night, taking a shot at Barack Obama, Republican nominee John McCain assured Americans that "I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

Which makes the following statistic kind of interesting. In a 50-minute speech, McCain used the word "I," or variations like "me" or "my" or "myself," more than 200 times.

That's about twice as many references to personal self-greatness as Obama used in Denver.

Tags:
Republican National Convention,
speeches,
presidential election 2008,
John McCain

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Ever consider that maybe its a good thing he used so many I's and Me's? He is giving a speech generically about how he will be a better president than obama. We need to know about him, and he sounds stupid if he starts referring to himself in the third person... so first person nomenclature is the better way to go. maybe thats why many people know so little about obama...? Inexperience at work

of 12:48AM September 11, 2008

Comparing Obama to McCain is just like comparing a young dung beetle to an old one. Both deliver the same, one just may be capable of handling a bigger ball of it.

John of SC 2:11PM September 08, 2008

I heard McCain say something to the effect, "You / or they will see that I was the one who was, and who is, and who is to come."? It was during what seemed to be just a visit somewhere, and it was relatively insignificant in its coverage. But, I heard this and thought, "whoa". But I was not in a place to rewind it...so it slipped into obscurity. Unless someone has a way of digging it up. I think it was in July. He was outdoors.

Christopher Heers of NV 12:46PM September 08, 2008

John A. Farrell

John A. Farrell

John Aloysius Farrell is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report. An award-winning Washington reporter, he has written for The Boston Globe and The Denver Post and is the author of Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century and an upcoming biography of the great American defense attorney, Clarence Darrow.

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