Expert System, a company that produces semantic software for the management of corporate information, analyzed with the semantic software "Cogito" the language used by Obama and Romney during the first political debate that took place live on television in view of the presidential elections of the United States of America (November 6, 2012).
Obama spoke slightly less than Romney but took more time and used more complex constructions (on average 4 propositions for each period) and a slightly higher language, even if we still remain within the most commonly used language. The more articulated syntax leads us to think of greater experience and higher speaking skills but also of the desire to address a more culturally evolved public. Romney used a greater number of simple sentences, with a single proposition, with a greater, albeit slight, negative connotation (considering that he talks about what the opponent has done). A language that therefore suggests greater incisiveness and safety.
Romney's greater concreteness compared to Obama can be deduced, for example, from the use of verbs: Romney makes greater use of can and will compared to Obama, who for his part pronounces more times would. But the distribution of verbs by frequency could instead suggest that Obama is more active than Romney: in fact, do is in second place in the list of Obama's main verbs while there is none among the first four verbs used by Romney ( be, do, get, say for Obama and be, have, get, say for Romney).
Comparing the main lemmas and sets of words, we notice that the two candidates underline the same points: they have in common small businesses, America and costs, the private sector and economic growth, but while Obama also talks about health care, student loans and mentions purchasing power, Romney seems to focus rather on taxes in various forms (tax plan, income tax, tax rate, property tax, economy tax).
Finally, moving on to proper names, Obama, unlike Romney, has cited several Presidents of the United States (perhaps for
emphasize the concept of unity and convey an idea of greater continuity?) Lincoln, Clinton, Eisenhower and George W. Bush, then mentioned Afghanistan and Iraq (quoting Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaida) while Romney mentioned China and Spain .
"The semantic analysis of the speeches highlighted communication styles and contents that were different but generally in line with the political program and the reference electorate of each candidate." said Luca Scagliarini, VP Strategy & Business Development of Expert System. “And yet the comments and reactions of voters rewarded one of the two candidates. This shows that success in political debates, which are often criticized for poor content, actually relies heavily on different aspects such as looks, gestures and tone of voice.”
Attachments: Expert System's detailed semantic analysis of the Obama and Romney speecheshttp://www.expertsystem.net/images/media/report_USAPolitics_20121005.pdf
