>I would agree that Bill, Barack, and Michelle are not among the greatest orators ever, certainly not MLK or JFK tier.
>However, in the current context, please tell me a single Republican speaker that meets their level. It would be hard to say that Bill or Barack are among the most accomplished living political orators. If standards are lower today, that just means Republicans are doing even worse they used to.
It is a new world and a new media, times changed and with it the dialectic and style of oratory.
Let me give you an example of the world changing under the feet of a generation of orators with maybe the most famous speech of them all: The Gettysburg Address [1] [2]
The real Gettysburg Address of that day was delivered by Edward Everett:
> One hundred and fifty years ago, on Nov. 19, 1863, famed orator and former Secretary of State Edward Everett delivered a two-hour speech at the Gettysburg National Cemetery [3]
And here is the kicked
> but most people only remember the two-minute speech given by President Abraham Lincoln. [3]
The contemporary reaction was mixed, for instance
> The Democratic-leaning Chicago Times observed, "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States." [2]
My point is: Donald Trump reach with Twitter, Facebook posts and wity remarks on live television are a lot more memorable nowadays than any speech given either by himself or by any of his contemporaries.
When he becomes the 45th president it will more go down in history as the highlights of his campaign, not any speech.
And it is the new normal
[1] abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address
[3] businessinsider.com/edward-everett-also-spoke-at-gettysburg-convention-2013-11
