It’s interesting to view the mapping of the major speakers’ words with the words of Obama’s and McCain’s acceptance speeches. They’re mapped here using the very cool Wordle, which my dear friend Suzanne Tiedemann introduce me to. Obama and then McCain (click on image for better resolution):
Whereas the overall focus of the Democrats seems to have been to link McCain to Bush and call for the need for Change, the Republicans were focusing on God and Taxes, with secondary interests in Business, Change, and Obama. Obama, however, mentioned Change much less often than one might expect; indeed, he the speech seems to have been written with the understanding that Change would be emphasized by everyone else. He would, instead, describe the Promise to the county of creating One America. McCain’s most used word, on the other hand, Country and Fight suggests something altogether different, one located in a protection of the homeland and taking the Fight to whomever needs to be fought.