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  Romney Creates the Runner-Up Stutter

  Mitt Romney, in his (sort-of) concession speech this evening, has picked up a new (to us) verbal tic. He listed a variety of Washington's failures and then said Washington promised to fix them.

  Then he said, over and over again after each point, "but they ... they haven't." The ellipsis signifies an uncomfortably pregnant pause.
  

  I guess this is supposed to be a rhetorical device, but it merely sounds like he zoned out in the middle of the speech. A Slate colleague suggests it's a stilted call-and-response effort, but that makes it even worse. Considering Romney has already adopted Obama's change message, it seems like he is now trying to copy Obam'a's "Fire it up! Ready to go!" call-and-response battle cry.

  Have the people voted for Romney?  They ... they haven't.
  

  Published Tuesday, January 08, 2008 8:50 PM by Chadwick Matlin
  Email Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com

  Filed under: Mitt Romney

About Chadwick Matlin

• Chadwick Matlin is the staff reporter for Slate's The Big Money, a new business site launching in the fall. He can be reached at Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com