Obama tends to rely heavily on a few phrases at podium

By The Associated Press Comments 0
Published: October 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — For all his flourish, President Barack Obama sure falls back on a few familiar phrases.

Multimedia

Photoview all photos

Make no mistake. Change isn’t easy. It won’t happen overnight. There will be setbacks and false starts.

Those who routinely listen to the president have come to expect some of those expressions to pop up in almost every speech.

Yet in the portfolio of presidential phrases, none is more pervasive than Obama’s four-word favorite: Let me be clear.

It is his emphatic windup for, well, everything.

"Let me be clear,” he said in describing his surprise at winning the Nobel Peace Prize. "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”

Although Obama is known for a flair with the written and spoken word, his hardest mission is often to make complicated matters relevant to the masses.

So clarity, it seems, is of the highest order.

Obama has used the same phrase, or a variation of it, to make his point about the strategy in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, U.S.-China relations, bipartisanship and Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest describes Obama’s style as purposeful.

"While some in Washington seek political advantage by hiding behind ambiguity,” Earnest said, "the president regularly seeks to make it clear where he stands and what he intends to do.”