Obama Rarely Mentions War, Terrorism

Words 'health' and 'economy' dominate president's vocabulary
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2009 10:23 AM CDT
Obama Rarely Mentions War, Terrorism
President Barack Obama greets troops as he departs St. Louis, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

To listen to Barack Obama speak, you might think he was a peacetime president, rather than one with more than 100,000 troops in the field, write Zachary Abrahamson and Eamon Javers for Politico. They pored over nearly every one of the half-million-plus words Obama has said publicly as president, and discovered that he’s uttered the words “health” and “economy” more times each than he’s said “Iraq,” “Iran,” “Afghanistan” and “terrorism” combined.

“Jobs” likewise have been mentioned twice as often as “security” and four times more than “war.” Other word omissions are telling as well. Obama has said the word “gay” just 13 times, and “abortion” only 15. Democratic strategist Paul Begala thinks the breakdown is “perfect,” adding, “That’s why he’s president of the United States today. He was elected principally on the economy and health care.” (More Barack Obama stories.)

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