A new analysis of speeches given by the 2016 presidential candidates and other key political leaders puts Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz at the top of the smarts list, and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump at the bottom with a seventh-grade speaking level.
The technology blog Mashoid ran speeches of the political leaders through the Coleman–Liau index, a readability index that estimates the grade level necessary to understand the speeches, and found that Biden was tops for his use of long and complex words, a finding that seemed to surprise the reviewers.
“Current Vice President Joe Biden tops the list for both word length (letters per word) and complexity (syllables per word). Yes, that’s Joe Biden – the one who has long drawn criticism for his purported lack of intelligence, his frequent slips of the tongue (such as referring to a Singapore leader as ‘the wisest man in the Orient’), and the plagiarism and fabrication that prompted him to drop out of the 1988 presidential race,” said the analysis.
According to the index, Biden speaks at a 12th grade level, as does Cruz, the Constitutional expert.
The study showed that Trump uses the shortest and least complex words, putting him at the bottom of the list.
Said Mashoid: “At the bottom for both word length and complexity dwells Donald Trump: perhaps a surprise given his education level (he holds an economics degree) and wealth of opportunities early in life. But listen to him speak, and it’s clear immediately the results are accurate: Along with a propensity to blurt out inappropriate comments, he prefers simple sentence structures, overuses qualifiers such as ‘very’ and ‘really,’ and sticks to basic words.”
Another surprise: former President George W. Bush tops President Obama and Hillary Clinton.
“Oft-maligned George W. Bush – who pronounces nuclear ‘nucular,’ earned C’s in school and is known for folksy language and malapropisms (he once ‘misunderestimated’ something) – scores in the top third overall for word length and complexity, and he comes in third place among Republicans. While Bush is known for off-the-cuff gaffes, his speeches tended to be formal and carefully delivered, which could explain his score.
“President Barack Obama scores in the bottom third – nine spots below George W. Bush – and is the lowest among Democrats. One theory? Obama’s desire to appeal to young voters may lead him to speak more simply and casually, even during formal announcements.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
