Barack Obama has raised the bar on the delivery of speeches. Sarah Palin did not match him – but she is better than many politicians.  But the question for this writer remains – is speech delivery as important as original thought?

We know today that Barack Obama writes his own speeches.  The delivery is superb because the thoughts behind the the delivery are superb.  When Barack Obama gives a speech we can truly measure his thought processes – we are able to understand how he view the importance of issues and how he would approach problem solving.

Fred Thompson has spent more time in Hollywood than Washington.  His convention speech, written by the Bush speechwriters, inspired the entire audience.  Where was this man in the primaries?  I’ll tell you – he was delivering his own stuff.  And no one was impressed.  Give him a prepared script and he can act like a statesman.

Sarah Palin delivered a speech at the RNC that wowed the audience.  But who wrote it?  We are told her contribution was the pit bull lipstick joke.  Perhaps Governor Palin would have had a better career in Hollywood.  She can deliver a script.  But her own thoughts are petty joke stealing.  Our evidence is reinforced by the McCain Campaign.  They are not allowing Governor Palin to speak off script.  Her campaign stumps are scripted deliveries – she takes no questions from the audience or the news media.  What is the McCain Camp afraid of?

When Barack Obama speaks, even in a scripted setting, we should listen.  We should listen because he wrote the script.  When Sarah Palin speaks we roll our eyes at the careful Karl Rove script.  Palin remains an Unidentified Flying Object on the political radar.