#alternate * * [hp_mobile.svg?h=a34390f6b169670e72bef2a4a3a0eccc] * All Sections News * Budget * New Activists * End of the Earth * Sourced by HuffPost * Beyond Brexit * Life Less Ordinary * Media * Impact * Downtime Politics * The Waugh Zone * Budget * Theresa May * Jeremy Corbyn * Tories * Brexit * Labour Entertainment * BUILD * Film * Music * Celeb Galleries * EastEnders * Coronation Street * Emmerdale * TV Drama * Reality TV * Daytime TV Lifestyle * Gym Buddies * Health * Body * Dating & Relationships * Food * Wellbeing * What's Working * Women * Men * EveryBody * Healthy Living * Downtime Tech * Reviews * Gaming * Space * Apple * Innovation * Tech For Good * Sustainability Parents * Parents-To-Be * New Parents * Family * Family Time * Thriving Parents * Parent Voices * Baby Names Video FEATURED * Downtime * Sourced * Fear-Less MORE * Comedy * Style * What's Working * Feedback Terms | Privacy Policy COPYRIGHT * عربي (Arabic) * Australia * Brasil * Canada * Deutschland * España * France * Ελλάδα (Greece) * India * Italia * 日本 (Japan) * 한국 (Korea) * Maghreb * México * Québec (en français) * South Africa * United Kingdom * United States EDITION UK عربي (Arabic) Australia Brasil Canada Deutschland España France Ελλάδα (Greece) India Italia 日本 (Japan) 한국 (Korea) Maghreb México Québec (en français) South Africa United States The Huffington Post News Budget New Activists End of the Earth Sourced by HuffPost Beyond Brexit Life Less Ordinary Media Impact Downtime Martin Luther King's Children Shatter Donald Trump's Attempt To Honour Their Father George Osborne Mocked For Old Carillion Tweet Boasting About 'Long-Term Economic Plan' Toddler Poppi Worthington Was Sexually Abused Before She Died, Coroner Rules Why We Are Asking People To Pledge To Strike For Repeal Again Politics The Waugh Zone Budget Theresa May Jeremy Corbyn Tories Brexit Labour Starmer Tells Labour MPs: Stop Trying To 'Rub Out' Brexit Jeremy Corbyn: Carillion Collapse Is 'Watershed Moment' That Should End 'Rip-Off Privatisation' MPs Launch Inquiry Into Carillion-Style Contracts Remainers Need A New Election Before A Second Referendum Entertainment BUILD Film Music Celeb Galleries EastEnders Coronation Street Emmerdale TV Drama Reality TV Daytime TV The Cranberries Singer Dolores O’Riordan Dies, Aged 46 BBC Newsreader George Alagiah Reveals His Cancer Has Returned Two Years After Finishing Treatment Sharon Stone Gets Candid When Asked For Her Experiences Of Industry Harassment 'CBB' Fans Divided Over Whether Courtney Act Crossed A Line With Andrew Lifestyle Gym Buddies Health Body Dating & Relationships Food Wellbeing What's Working Women Men EveryBody Dog Has Adorable Way Of 'Comforting' Owner When She Takes A Shower Dry January: The Benefits Of Giving Up Booze, Two Weeks In Ryanair Hand Luggage Rules: What You Should Know About The New One-Bag Policy Stop Everything. A Lego Pop-Up Bar Is Coming To The UK Tech Reviews Gaming Space Apple Innovation Tech For Good Sustainability Digital Baggage: Young And Old This Google App Matches Selfies To Famous Portraits, But We Can't Promise It Will Be Flattering NASA Reveals Where Stars Are Born And It's Absolutely Beautiful China’s Plan To Deal With Space Junk Sounds Like A James Bond Film Parents Parents-To-Be New Parents Family Family Time Thriving Parents Parent Voices Baby Names Childcare Vouchers Vs Tax-Free Childcare: What Do The Changes Mean For You? Parents Of Five-Year-Old In 'Racist' H&M Advert Have Protected Him From The Backlash How Strangers Crocheting Octopuses Are Comforting Premature Babies And New Parents New Study Finds ‘Baby Brain’ Is Real, But We’re Still Not Sure What Causes It Video MORE Comedy Style What's Working Featured Downtime Sourced Fear-Less * Andrew Keith Walker Writes about tech, culture, economics & politics. 4 start-ups. 3 exits. Swapped London for the country & the rat race for writing. THE BLOG The Problem With Political Speeches Isn't Plagiarism, It's Platitudes * * * * * * * 22/07/2016 10:17 BST | Updated 22/07/2017 10:12 BST I listened to Melania Trump's speech, like many people, cringing. I didn't spot the close similarities with Michelle Obama's speech until the media jumped on them. I was cringing for a different reason, namely the hollow platitudes that dominate much of modern political speechwriting. Clearly Ms. Obama had a better delivery but she, like Ms. Trump, recited the same old clichés we've heard a million times in addresses from school teachers, sports coaches, CEOs at the annual shareholder meeting and of course, politicians. Ad nauseam. 2016-07-21-1469121870-9815721-trump_quote.jpg It's awful watching a politician's wife tell everyone how great he is. That good wife shtick is an anachronism in the modern world. Of course she thinks he's a great guy, she's married to him. I'd like to think my wife would give me a glowing report too, but I wouldn't expect it to influence anyone with half a brain into voting for me. And if my wife did give a speech for me, I'd hope she'd come up with something better than assuring people I wasn't unreliable, lazy or a bigot, which was more or less the message we heard from Ms. Trump. Telling anyone that your values include doing what you'll say you'll do, working hard and respecting people regardless of gender, status or colour is hardly much to boast about, is it? Those values should be a baseline. They're taught to us as children, enshrined in religions, schools, workplaces and a deluge of inspirational quote posters, mugs and idiotic pictures on Twitter and Facebook. It's stating the blindingly obvious and making it sound deep, but it's not. Honesty, integrity, respect, hard work? Deep down inside, do those qualities really merit inclusion in a modern speech, made at a time of dramatic domestic tensions, global economic problems and rising tides of extremism? For a highly controversial political candidate, too? It's dross. Speechwriting is formulaic, and were anyone asked to compile a number of basic core values to win the support of the crowd, honesty, integrity, respect and hard work would be no-brainers. It's like ticking off a list. Add "kind to animals" and "helps old folks across the road" and you've won political cliché bingo. As for plagiarism, how many different ways can you express those basic concepts in simple, accessible language to describe another person? Not many. It begins with "he/she believes..." and ends in simple descriptions of each virtue. Which is what Ms. Trump did. And so did Ms. Obama. Trump just had a lousy proofreader who failed to spot the direct similarities. If the nouns had been replaced by synonyms, verbs exchanged, the sequence of clauses varied... who would cry plagiarism? Nobody. But it would still be a fairly unremarkable set of platitudes. Shouldn't we care more about that? It's rather disappointing to see the news media pounce on the plagiarism as opposed to criticising the fact Melania Trump avoided saying anything interesting about the man who would be king. The spouse's supporting speech is never going to be "I have a dream" or "Four score years and ten" obviously, but all the same, honesty, hard work and respect is more gripping when my 5-year-old recites it in the school assembly than on a giant stage with lasers and fireworks. In other similar speeches, even Ms. Obama's, the amount of interesting, illuminating material (as opposed to feel-good rhetoric) is minimal. It's a formatting problem, not the lack of originality that shamed Ms. Trump. There is, however, one important takeaway from the whole episode. For a candidate like Trump, who has styled himself as the outsider and demonstrated a complete lack of the usual nomination-chasing protocol, this move into familiar mainstream campaign presentation is a tactical risk. This first major public outing, with a new campaign manager, is the closest he has come to emulating all the mainstream candidates of yesteryear. If you saw Trump for the first time at that convention, you might have wondered what all the Trump controversy is about. Trump appeared just like Romney, McCain, Bush and Dole. Light show, wife, kids, balloons, crowd-pleasing speeches. Yawn. Trump is now playing by more predictable, traditional campaign rules. Which means his outsider image is slipping. He's playing Hilary Clinton on her terms if he carries on. That's not his strong suit. You can't claim to be the anti-establishment choice if you appear like the last establishment candidate (who lost) and your wife's speech sounds just like the last establishment guy's wife (the guy you hate, who won). How Trump handles that issue, unlike the speeches, will be interesting to watch. MORE:Melania TrumpDonald TrumpplagiarismRepublican convention SUBSCRIBE AND FOLLOW POLITICS Get top stories and blog posts emailed to me each day. Newsletters may offer personalized content or advertisements. Learn more Newsletter ____________________ Please enter a valid email address Subscribe Now Thank you for signing up! You should receive an email to confirm your subscription shortly. There was a problem processing your signup; please try again later * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Podcast * Snapchat * Google+ * Pinterest CLOSE [huffpost-uk.png?h=bd9f08e8e3ee2ed3db9da01a257a5f8f] [newsletter-toaster.png?h=492dcc7d4a60d293f00eb28f73829add] SUBSCRIBE TO THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER ____________________ Subscribe! Please enter a valid email address Thank you for signing up! You should receive an email to confirm your subscription shortly. There was a problem processing your signup; please try again later [highlight.gif?h=b20e6b166b1cca0e866db64bb3febc56] NEW! HIGHLIGHT AND SHARE Highlight text to share via Facebook and Twitter HuffPost * Advertise * RSS * Careers * FAQ * User Agreement * Privacy * Cookie Policy * Comment Policy * Supply Chain Transparency * About Us * About Our Ads * Contact Us OATH © 2017 Oath Inc. All rights reserved. Part of HuffPost Politics Using a mobile device? Go to http://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ for HuffPost Mobile. [p?c1=2&c2=6723616&c3=&c4=&c5=UK-POLITICS&c6=&c 15=&cj=1] [tr?id=1112906175403201&ev=PageView&noscript=1] [tr?id=10153394098876130&ev=PageView&noscript=1]