Familiar tale for Bush's scribes
Speechwriters face their toughest month
|
More Articles:
Most Viewed:
'Blind Side' tackles box office competition(5001 views)Spielberg abandons 'Harvey'(1682 views)Nine(1452 views)Taylor Lautner to star in 'Max Steel'(1112 views)Jack Black animates film pitch(1057 views)Oscar loves foreign actresses(839 views) |
Welcome to the world not of movie scribes but their kindred spirits: presidential speechwriters, who know January is the cruelest month, especially when it follows an election like last year's.
His party now in the minority and on the run, his own approval ratings still tanking, George W. Bush realizes his upcoming state of the union speech will have to be one grand performance. Like their Hollywood counterparts, his speechwriters face the thankless task of crafting the message while getting notes from everyone around them.
"Speechwriters are the most unhappy people in the White House," says former Bush speechwriter David Frum. "They're typically quite young, haven't published much, and they think this is their great chance to write! Then they realize, there's a star -- the president -- and the star's much more important than they are. And there's a director -- the president's communications team -- who's also more important. And then the producers -- the entire party. Lots of people looking over your shoulder."
Like a screenwriter, Frum says, "You're not writing your own views or own voice. You're trying to master another person. Like, here's this character, what would he say in this situation? You have to enter his head."
Just don't hold your breath for a credit.
"The work was not your own," Frum says. "Thinking it was was a pathway to misery."
