At the National Conventions, the Words They Used

A comparison of how often speakers at the two presidential nominating conventions used different words and phrases, based on an analysis of transcripts from the Federal News Service.
Words favored
by Democrats
Words favored
by Republicans
Number of mentions per 25,000 spoken words
by Democrats and Republicans
Auto Democrats credited President Obama with the recovery of the auto industry after the 2009 bailout, while Republicans left the topic unmentioned.
Women Democrats used the word much more frequently, primarily in reference to women's health and equal pay.
Business Republicans were more likely to talk about businesses, emphasizing Mr. Romney's private-sector experience and plans to improve the economy.
Unemployment Many Republican speakers brought up the still-high unemployment rate and the number of Americans who remain jobless, while Democrats largely avoided the topic.


Excerpts from Democrats
Democrats mentioned various topics
some number of times per 25,000 words

Barack Obama
President of the United States

— a Senate candidate from Illinois who spoke about hope, not blind optimism, not wishful thinking but hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward even when the odds are great, even when the road is long.

We're offering a better path where we — a future where we keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal, where farmers and scientists harness new biofuels to power our cars and trucks, where construction workers build homes and factories that waste less energy, where — where we develop a hundred-year supply of natural gas that's right beneath our feet.

(Cheers, applause.) So help me. Help me recruit a hundred thousand math and science teachers within 10 years and improve early childhood education.

And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don't even want, I will use the money we're no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work — (extended cheers, applause)

You're the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she's ever called home — (cheers, applause)

(Cheers, applause.) The auto worker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed, but kept coming to work every day, and bought flags for his whole town and one of the cars that he built to surprise his wife — he gives me hope.

Bill Clinton
42nd president of the United States

(Cheers, applause.) And Joe Biden — Joe Biden did a great job with both. (Sustained cheers, applause.)

The recovery act saved or created millions of jobs and cut taxes — let me say this again — cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people.

The boom in oil and gas production, combined with greater energy efficiency, has driven oil imports to a near-20- year low and natural gas production to an all-time high.

— who are eligible for Medicaid. (Cheers, applause.) It's going to end Medicare as we know it.

Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Vice president of the United States

You heard them talk so much about how they cared so much about Medicare, how much they wanted to preserve it. That's what they told you.

Folks, that's not courage and that's not fair. (Applause.) Look — look. In a sense, this can be reduced to a single notion.

For you see — you see, we see a future — we really honest to God do — we see a future where everyone, rich and poor, does their part and has a part, a future where we depend more on clean energy from home and less on oil from abroad, a future where we're number one in the world again in college graduation, a future where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector — (cheers, applause)

Elizabeth Warren
Senate candidate, Massachusetts

— and the third started a small business. Me, I was waiting tables at 13 and married at 19. I graduated from public schools and taught elementary school.

Sure they do. They believe in government to help themselves and their powerful friends.

After the financial crisis, President Obama knew that we had to clean up Wall Street. For years, families had been tricked by credit cards, fooled by student loans and cheated on mortgages.

Richard J. Durbin
U.S. senator, Illinois

Meet 5,000 proud Chrysler UAW workers. (Cheers, applause.) One business leader — one business leader who has been referenced a few times tonight said, let them go bankrupt.

But here's what Abraham Lincoln said: "I hope to stand firm enough not to go backwards." (Cheers, applause.)

John Kerry
U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Our military was stretched to the breaking point, Iran marching towards a nuclear weapon unchecked, and Osama bin Laden was still plotting. It took President Obama to make America lead like America again.

(Cheers, applause.) He promised to end the war in Afghanistan responsibly, and he is, and our heroes are coming home.

Steny Hoyer
House minority whip

Surely even Mr. Romney thinks we're better off today than we were then. (Cheers, applause.)

He voted to spend trillions of dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. He voted for a prescription drug benefit with no plan to pay for it.

Charles E. Schumer
U.S. senator, New York

We certainly want those at the top to do well, but if you base your entire presidency and your entire economic platform on helping them do even better, you're missing what makes the economy tick. Because not everyone has been as fortunate as Mitt Romney, you cannot base your whole approach on a life experience as rarefied as his.

He knows America does best when the middle class succeeds, not just those at the top. On foreign policy, President Obama has kept our nation safe from terrorism.

Pedro R. Pierluisi
Resident commissioner of Puerto Rico

Today, we have to stand up, speak up and fight for what is right. The choice we confront could not be clearer. We can move forward with the president or backward with his opponents.

Well, that's not fair, and it makes no sense. President Obama also understands the obligation we owe our most vulnerable citizens.

Judy Chu
U.S. representative, California

(Cheers, applause.) That's the American dream. No one ever said that achieving the American dream was easy.

They even turned health care reform into what they thought was a bad word, "Obamacare." At first, I resented that term. But then I realized that this was the perfect phrase.

Tim Kaine
Former governor of Virginia

The other side fights to protect subsidies for Big Oil, but we want to invest in America's small businesses. They want bigger tax cuts for those who need it the least.

(Cheers, applause.) He promised — he promised to fight for equal pay for women, college affordability for students, fair treatment for LGBT Americans, and he's kept his word.

Pat Quinn
Governor of Illinois

But that didn't stop Romney and Ryan from telling the American people that their plan won't hurt seniors. The fact is, it will. And President Obama's plan will protect Medicare and protect our seniors.

What does Romney promise today? More jobs, less debt, smaller government. But he didn't do it then, and he won't do it now!

Cory Booker
Mayor of Newark

And please listen to this, because when your country is in a costly war with our soldiers sacrificing abroad and our nation is facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare.

And investment must include the real engine of job growth in America, the American small business. (Cheers, applause.) That's why this platform committee is proud that our president has made a profound difference for people and businesses in Newark, in New Jersey and in our nation as a whole by cutting taxes for all working families and giving small businesses 18 different tax cuts.

Dr. Jill Biden
Second lady of the United States

It's what makes him such a loving and supportive father of our three children, Beau, Hunter and Ashley, and it's what drives him today as he and President Obama fight to strengthen the middle class they grew up in. For as long as I've known him, Joe has never given up, never failed to see the possibilities and never had any doubt about who he's fighting for.

Brian Schweitzer
Governor of Montana

— let me tell you how we get 'er done in Montana. (Cheers, applause.) Clinton arithmetic. Clinton arithmetic. (Cheers, applause.)

Kerry Washington
Actress

I'm here not just as an actress but as a woman, an African-American, a granddaughter of immigrants who came through Ellis Island, a person who could not have afforded college without the help of student loans and as one of millions of volunteers working to re-elect President Obama.

CAROL BERMAN

I'm getting preventive care for free and my prescription drugs for less. But the Romney-Ryan plan has me terrified, not just for me but for my three married daughters, who are in their 50s.

Melvin Watt
U.S. representative, North Carolina

Growing up, I learned from my mama and my neighbors and my church members a certain set of values: Respect your elders; help your neighbors; honor your commitments; stand up for education.

Walter Dalton
Lieutenant Governor, North Carolina

So if you share these values, go to DaltonforNC.com. Get involved. Vote for Walter Dalton and our president, and together we'll move this country forward.

Chris Van Hollen
U.S. representative, Maryland

And that's exactly what the Romney-Ryan plan does. You know, they call their plan brave, bold, courageous.

Kamala D. Harris
Attorney general of California

That ideal is written into our laws, the rules of the road that create a level playing field in this country. Those are the rules I became attorney general to uphold.

Jim Hunt
Former governor of North Carolina

They say just cut taxes for the wealthiest, get rid of regulations, and job growth — job growth will happen like magic.

Tom Vilsack
U.S. secretary of agriculture

And today President Obama is making smart investments in clean energy, in wind, solar and biofuels — all as part of an all-of-the- above energy strategy that supports thousands of jobs — not in the Middle East, but in the Midwest of our great country.

Nancy Pelosi
House minority leader

We — Democrats passed health care reform to allow Americans the freedom to pursue their passions, to make health care a right, not a privilege and to ensure that being a woman is no longer a pre-existing medical condition.

Emanuel Cleaver II
U.S. representative, Missouri

Hope is the motivation that empowers the unemployed, enabling them to get out of bed every single morning with unbounded enthusiasm as they look for work.

John A. Pérez
Speaker of the California State Assembly

We fight for them. Women across our country are fighting for the opportunity that comes with equal pay for equal work and the respect that comes with having control of their medical decisions.

Diana DeGette
U.S. representative, Colorado

More and more in this economy, the women are the family breadwinners. We are managing our family by just struggling to pay health care bills and facing the challenge of saving for college.

Craig Robinson
Brother of Michelle Obama

And last month, they stood with CEOs to announce that they've hired 125,000 veterans and military spouses — (cheers, applause) — surpassing the goal more than a year ahead of schedule.

Rahm Emanuel
Mayor of Chicago

There was no — there was no blueprint or how-to manual for fixing a global financial meltdown, an auto crisis, two wars and a Great Recession all at the same time.

Kathleen Sebelius
U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services

And President Obama is building on that legacy by building quality and secure health care to every American. I was governor of Kansas — (cheers, applause)

Tammy Duckworth
Congressional candidate, Illinois

Department of Veterans Affairs. We work to end the outrage of veterans having to sleep on the same streets they once defended.

R.T. Rybak
Mayor of Minneapolis

(Cheers, applause.) He put 400,000 teachers and education workers in our schools and thousands of police officers and firefighters on the streets of our cities.

Joyce Beatty
Congressional candidate, Ohio

That's because America's success is dependent on the success of women: women in education; women in business; women in military and public service. Women will lead us to victory for strong Democratic majorities in Congress — (cheers, applause)

Harry Reid
Senate majority leader

We can move America forward with a strong middle class. We can move America forward with a strong Democratic majority in the Senate.

Nydia Velázquez
U.S. representative, New York

President Obama has walked with our small businesses, our job creators. He knows small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

Due to a large number of mentions, only a sampling of excerpts are shown.


Excerpts from Republicans
Republicans mentioned various topics
some number of times per 25,000 words

Mitt Romney
Presidential nominee

(Cheers, applause.) Tonight that American flag is still there on the moon, and I don't doubt for a second that Neil Armstrong's spirit is still with us, that unique blend of optimism, humility and the utter confidence that when the world needs someone to do the really big stuff, you need an American.

I grew up with stories of his family being fed by the U.S. government as war refugees.

First, by 2020, North America will be energy-independent by taking full advantage of our oil, our coal, our gas, our nuclear and our renewables.

(Cheers, applause.) And fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in America will not vanish as have those in Greece, we will cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget.

Every American was relieved the day President Obama gave the order and Seal Team 6 took out Osama bin Laden. (Cheers, applause.) On another front, every American is less secure today because he has failed to slow Iran's nuclear threat.

Condoleezza Rice
Former Secretary of State

Sadly, we are abandoning the field of free and fair trade, and it will come back to haunt us.

But most importantly, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will rebuild the foundation of our strength, the American economy, stimulating private sector growth and stimulating small-business entrepreneurship.

(Cheers, applause.) And we need to give parents greater choice — particularly, particularly poor parents, whose kids, very often minorities, are trapped in failing neighborhood schools.

Pam Bondi
Attorney general of Florida

He talks about giving us more control over health care decisions but instead grants that power to government bureaucrats.

He claims that government is responsible for private-sector success, but the only thing he is building is bigger government. And "Obamacare" is exhibit A. (Cheers, applause.)

The court agreed that the Constitution does not allow the federal government to force states to adopt a budget-busting expansion of Medicaid.

Nikki Haley
Governor of South Carolina

So, President Obama, with all due respect, don't tell me that my parents didn't build their business. (Cheers, applause.) Almost 45 years after my parents first became Americans, I stand before you and them tonight as the proud governor of South Carolina.

(Cheers, applause.) And not too long ago, The Wall Street Journal said anyone still thinking the U.S.

But like so many states, we have our challenges, whether they be unemployment or education or poverty. And like so many of my governors, I work day in and day out to try and improve the lives of the people of my state.

Marco Rubio
U.S. senator, Florida

Because his new slogan for his campaign is the word "forward." Forward? A government that spends $1 trillion more than it takes in? An $800 billion stimulus that created more debt than jobs?

He tells Americans that they're worse off because others are better off, that rich people got rich by making other people poor. Hope and change has become divide and conquer.

Paul D. Ryan
Vice-presidential nominee

In Congress, when they take out the heavy books and the wall charts about Medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on Garfield Street in Janesville.

By themselves — by themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration.

Mike Huckabee
Former governor of Arkansas

But when one sees what even Bill Clinton noted was a sterling record of problem- solving that has marked the life of Mitt Romney, we are confident that we will do better. (Cheers, applause.) I am thrilled to say Mitt Romney has been loyal to his lovely wife, who knocked it out of the park last night in this arena.

He — he's been loyal to his sons, to his country, to his employees and to his church. Well, I'm sure now that the press is going to tell you he isn't perfect.

Rand Paul
U.S. senator, Kentucky

As they approached the ship, they were all waving and trying as best they could to say, hello, American sailor. Hello, freedom man. It's hard to see a boat full of people like that and not get a lump somewhere between chin and belly button, and it really makes one proud and glad to be an American.

To overcome the current crisis, we must appreciate and applaud American success. We must step forward unabashedly and proclaim, you did build that.

Chris Christie
Governor of New Jersey

Tell it to you this way: In the automobile of life, dad was just a passenger. Mom was the driver.

We're taking our country back because we are the great-grandchildren of men and women who broke their backs in the name of American ingenuity, the grandchildren of the "Greatest Generation," the sons and daughters of immigrants, the brothers and sisters of everyday heroes, the neighbors of entrepreneurs and firefighters, teachers and farmers, veterans and factory workers and everyone in between who shows up, not just on the big days or the good days, but on the bad days and the hard days, each and every day, all 365 of them.

John Kasich
Governor of Ohio

And you know what? We still protect the environment, we protect our families, but we don't over-regulate and kill the job creators in our state. In fact, we want to honor the job creators in our state and work with them because they help our families.

(Cheers, applause.) Folks, I want to tell you this: Joe Biden disputes a lot of those facts, but Joe Biden told me that he was a good golfer, and I've played golf with Joe Biden; I can tell you that's not true, as well as all the other things that he says.

Rae Lynne Chornenky
National Federation of Republican Women president

Number one, they want less interference and fewer regulations controlling businesses. Number two, they want the kind of strong fiscal conservative leadership that only Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can deliver.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women lost 92 percent of all the jobs lost under the Obama administration. If there is a war against women, it is President Obama who has waged it.

KIM RHODE

I think it's safe to say we showed the world that women of America are a force to be reckoned with.

BOB WHITE

Our investors included pension funds, colleges and charities with noble missions. We would invest wisely, and we would treat their money as carefully as we treated our own.

GRANT BENNETT

Mitt prayed and counseled with church members seeking spiritual direction: single mothers raising children, couples with marital problems, youth with addictions, immigrants separated from their families and individuals whose heat had been shut off.

Jeb Bush
Former governor of Florida

That starts with a strong economy, a smart energy policy, lower deficits and a president who puts America's workers and job creators first. But to have a great future, a secure future, a future that is equal to our potential as a nation, we need to do something else.

Sean Duffy
U.S. representative, Wisconsin

These labs focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics and help students learn proficiency in these fields.

Craig Romney
Son of Mitt Romney

These leaders, along with Hispanics across the country, play a vital role in the Romney-Ryan comeback as we fight to put America back on the path to prosperity.

Newt Gingrich
Former speaker of the House of Representatives

Reagan's belief in small business owners and entrepreneurs is a remarkable contrast with Obama's class warfare rhetoric, massive deficits and a passion for taxing those who create jobs. The Romney plan for a stronger middle class has deep roots in Ronald Reagan's approach.

Susana Martinez
Governor of New Mexico

Yes, that gun weighed more than I did. (Laughter.) My parents grew that small business from one 18-year-old guarding a bingo to more than 125 employees in three states.

Tim Pawlenty
Former governor of Minnesota

(Laughter, cheers, applause.) Now, our opponents claim to be the party of the middle class, but Democrats don't understand this fundamental point: It's really hard for people to be part of the middle class if they don't have a job.

TAD TRUE

We need a president that understands that we need all of that energy, all of that oil, all of those jobs. And we need a president that understands that America needs that pipeline.

John McCain
U.S. senator, Arizona

His own secretary of defense has said that cutting our military by nearly a trillion dollars would be devastating, and yet the president is playing no leadership role in preventing this crippling blow to our military. A wise congressman from Wisconsin has said: Our fiscal policy and our foreign policy are on a collision course.

Mitch McConnell
Senate Republican leader

Ladies and gentlemen, we're here this week for the simple reason that our nation is in desperate need of leadership, and we believe Mitt — we believe Mitt Romney is the man for this moment.

Ann Romney
Wife of Mitt Romney

Has it made those who started the company successful — made them successful beyond their dreams?

Lucé Vela Fortuño
First lady of Puerto Rico

But it is also one of caring and compassionate attention to a social and faith-based agenda of unprecedented reach and consequence.

Artur Davis
U.S. representative, Alabama

(Cheers, applause.) God bless you. God bless you, Tampa. God bless you, America.

Ted Cruz
Senate candidate, Texas

Unfortunately, President Obama's campaign is trying to divide America, to separate us into groups, telling seniors Medicare will be taken away, telling Hispanics that we're not welcome here and sending the vice president to preach a message of division.

Rick Santorum
Former U.S. senator, Pennsylvania

From lowering taxes to reforming social programs, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are dedicated to restoring the home where married moms and dads are pillars of strong communities, raising good citizens in our neighborhoods.

Brian Sandoval
Governor of Nevada

And like Republicans all across this nation, I chose to make the tough decisions on issues like economic development, education reform and redesigning how state government operates, on job creation and reducing state spending and eliminating red tape. It hasn't been easy, and we're not through it yet.

Scott Walker
Governor of Wisconsin

Like many places across the country, Wisconsin lost more than a hundred thousand jobs from 2008 to 2010. Unemployment during that time topped out at over 9 percent.

Bob McDonnell
Governor of Virginia

(Cheers, applause.) This election is about restoring the American dream. That dream led my grandfather, a poor farm boy, to leave Ireland a hundred years ago and come to Ellis Island to begin his journey of freedom in America.

Bev Gray
Small-business owner

— thank you — we risked everything and succeeded because of our hard work and commitment. What President Obama doesn't understand is that when businesses grow, unemployment goes down and people thrive.

Mary Fallin
Governor of Oklahoma

Mitt Romney understands that it's free enterprise and hard work, not the government, that has made the United States the envy of the world.

John Boehner
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

(Cheers, applause.) You know, Mitt Romney comes from a family of builders. His father built houses, built businesses, built industry.

Steve King
U.S. representative, Iowa

From his very first campaign, Paul asked voters directly, hire me, and has since always reminded his constituents, remember, I work for you.

Steve Daines
Congressional candidate, Montana

Now out-of-control spending, crushing debt, job-destroying regulations — they threaten our children's future.

Due to a large number of mentions, only a sampling of excerpts are shown.