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Will Ron Fournier break out his abacus again?

September 05, 2008 11:02 am ET by Jamison Foser

Last week, in an apparent effort to paint Sen. Hillary Clinton as self-absorbed, the AP's Ron Fournier counted the number of times she used "some variation of the pronoun 'I'" in her convention speech.  Fournier came up with 17.  Media Matters checked his work, and found 21 such uses.  But Fournier's point was undermined by the fact that at least 13 of those uses of the pronoun were about Clinton's support for Obama, the importance of the 2008 election, or what matters in the election.

So ... when can we expect Fournier to tally up the number of times John "cause greater than self" McCain used the pronoun "I" in his convention speech?  It's well over 100 -- and that doesn't even count variations.

Or has Ron Fournier suddenly realized that such an exercise would be pointless?  He'd be right, but you have to wonder about the timing of his epiphany.

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    • Author by Eric Jaffa (September 05, 2008 11:58 am ET)
         

      Thanks for reminding us of the stupid tactics Ron Fournier uses to try to undermine Democrats which he doesn't apply to Republicans.

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    • Author by john4067 (September 05, 2008 12:08 pm ET)
         
      John McCain was imprisoned by communists and wasn't able to to use the word "I" for five years, my friends. And that's change Ron Fournier can believe in.
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    • Author by beatbort370 (September 05, 2008 12:50 pm ET)
         

      AP, as you have repeatedly noted, does this a lot. What concerns me, as a journalist, is that, in allowing this sort of behavior to run amok from their reporters and bureau chiefs, they are destroying what used to be an at least somewhat reliable "brand." It's getting where I question every AP story I read now, by any AP reporter on any topic. Here's a blog entry I posted about another recent AP outrage:

      http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/blogs/home.cfm?aid=9515

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    • Author by Lorelei (September 05, 2008 3:01 pm ET)
         

      Just why are they even still carping on Clinton, isn't Obama the candidate  ?  

      Oh never mind, I know its because they haven't a clue. 

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    • Author by shadow3228939 (September 05, 2008 3:50 pm ET)
         
      Just another media double standard by a Republican supporter.  These guys must truely believe they can do and say anything.  How long will it take for Americans to get smart and throw out the garbage before it stinks up the entire place? 
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    • Author by dickdata417424 (September 05, 2008 3:50 pm ET)
         
      Remember when the AP was a respected name in news?  Back in the days when The Washington Post and The New York Times were also respected names.  Not altogether unrespected now, but seriously tarnished, all three of those names.
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    • Author by awb8139 (September 05, 2008 4:18 pm ET)
         
      C'mon... McInsane's speech felt longer than 5 years in a POW camp.
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    • Author by mtobias (September 05, 2008 6:28 pm ET)
         

      Fournier is a hack.

      I was surprised to see any critical reporting from the AP.

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    • Author by gmacdonald2918 (September 05, 2008 6:44 pm ET)
         

      I agree that Fournier's a hack, but I wouldn't call the exercise pointless.  Research shows that use of first-person pronouns is related to higher degrees of self-focus.  Granted, the reliability and meaningfulness of the number in a case study like this is tenuous.  But whether Fournier actually knew it or not, use of first person is an ever-so-small window into people's thought processes (although in this case, I guess it's the speech writer's more than the speaker's).

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    • Author by BottleBlonde (September 05, 2008 9:06 pm ET)
         
      He sure better get out that abacus, if not, I'll be breathing down AP's neck!
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    • Author by pbg (September 05, 2008 11:29 pm ET)
         
      Oh come on. The true test should be the number of times he uses the words "Bob Dole."
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    • Author by markiebee0017724 (September 06, 2008 1:11 am ET)
         
      My friends and colleagues played a drinking game last night during McPain's speech. We had to take a shot of Jack Daniels each time he said POW. I called in sick today as did three others. Please, no loud noises. My head hurts too much.
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    • Author by hopalong (September 06, 2008 11:15 am ET)
         
      ' Now where did I put that stupid abacus of mine?? You know, the one that I used to count the Ronald Reagan name mentioned by all the GOP candidates during the debates or the number of times Rudy said 9/11. It's gotta be here somewhere!! '
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    • Author by National_Insecurity (September 07, 2008 2:25 am ET)
         
      I'd almost [almost] settle for how many times McCain speaks and doesn't remind us he was a POW.

      or, when was the last McCain public speech over 2 minutes when he didn't mention or refer to the time he was a POW?

      I think it's sad, really insulting to him, that his own VP is unaware that McCain doesn't have any business experience on his resume, yet she brings it up every time she speaks.
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