“Conventional wisdom holds that Democrats smile while Republicans attack — and that the speeches at the just-ended conventions reflect that. Yet the four major speeches of the last two weeks — those of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and John McCain — paint nearly the opposite picture. The Democratic ticket mentioned McCain far more often than Republicans mentioned Obama. Obama aimed far more barbs at McCain than McCain did at him. And both Biden and Obama paused for applause less often and spoke for less time (though much faster). Meanwhile, both Palin and McCain were careful not to mention the incumbent president’s name — or that of his vice president — a single time. Both tickets, however, agreed on one thing: in naming the greatest threats or villains to America, all four cited al-Qaida.” (09/05/08)