Americans will vote today for a new president. As I have followed the campaign, I have wondered which candidate, once elected, would do the least damage to our standards of communication.

One of the first things I noticed is that each candidate made the same common, everyday mistakes mentioned so often in this newsletter. Let's look at some of them.

--First, "myself," which cannot be used as a subject, has been abused by both candidates. How many times did we hear, "Senator X and myself had a bipartisan..."?

--"Due to" was often used incorrectly as a preposition instead of "because of" or "on account of."

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--A "person" was incorrectly made a plural. So we heard phrases like "a person should not lose their house" rather than lose "her" or "his" house.

--For body language, both candidates could eliminate gestures like putting a hand in their pants pocket while standing.

--And perhaps it is one of the many television newscasters who have influenced the candidates to put a finger on their forehead or a chin in their hand to emphasize thoughtfulness. Keeping your hands away from your face is a not only a good communications practice, but it also has a hygienic benefit.

Finally, history will tell us which of the many speeches made during the campaign have had any real meaning, have reached into our national memory to shake us unto realizing what is really significant.

In short, have we heard anything that comes close to what many consider the best political speech ever--Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address of 272 words?

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Sincerely,
Barry Beckham