Thanks NPR, I didn't know he "keeps it country."

At the risk of stepping into The Daily Howler's turf, I simply could not believe my ears while listening to Mara Liasson's tough, investigative report on Bush's stump speech.

Liasson calls President Bush's stump speech "a rehearsed, polished and very consistent performance full of crowd-pleasing lines that help him cultivate an image of someone who says what he means and means what he says."

Bush's speech is delivered in a plain-spoken conversational style, thick with a Texas twang. "He is at the center of a kind of old-fashioned political ritual," says Peter Robinson, a former speechwriter for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. "He keeps his own lines simple and he keeps them country."

Thanks, Mara, that's really helpful to know. Would it be too much trouble for you to tells us if "what he means and means what he says" has any relationship whatsoever with the truth? How about reality?

Gawd, is there no end to the awfulness of the campaign reporting?