SPEECHES. Random thought from the Edwards' speech the other day: It's no secret that these things are theater, but isn't it time we did away with speeches? Not the televised sort, of course, as they bring the pol's ideas to a broad audience. But when you appear at the Council on Foreign Relations and distribute a text, there's really no value added by mouthing the words for the next 40 minutes. Better by far would be to give out the pages, let everyone read for a spell, then sit down for a Q&A on the policy. This would seem particularly true for politicians like Hillary Clinton, who aren't terribly good at giving canned speeches, but are ferociously knowledgeable and capable in give-and-take situations. Barack Obama may want to press his advantage with oratory, but HRC would probably be better served -- particularly given the preexisting narratives about her -- by going off-the-cuff and drilling in her fluidity with the material. --Ezra Klein
