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

Eight years later that hope has been tested by the cost of war, by one of the worst economic crises in history and by political gridlock that's left us wondering whether it's still even possible to tackle the challenges of our time.

My grandparents were given the chance to go to college and buy their home — their own home and fulfill the basic bargain at the heart of America's story, the promise that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, that everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, D.C.

I'm asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit, real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That's what we can do in the next four years, and that is why I am running for a second term as president of the United States.

Well, I have, and I will. (Cheers, applause.) 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 made that possible. (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)

I've shared the pain of families who've lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who've lost their jobs. If the critics are right that I've made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them.

Bill Clinton
42nd president of the United States

They want to get rid of those pesky financial regulations designed to prevent another crash and prohibit future bailouts.

I'm fixing to tell you why. I believe it because President Obama's approach embodies the values, the ideas and the direction America has to take to build the 21st-century version of the American Dream: a nation of shared opportunities, shared responsibilities, shared prosperity, a shared sense of community.

Well, to reduce the debt, we're going to have another $5 trillion in tax cuts heavily weighted to upper-income people.

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

Look, Barack understood that the search for bin Laden was about a lot more than taking a monstrous leader off the battlefield.

But what did you do as Americans? What you've always done. You didn't lose faith. You fought back. You didn't give up; you got up.

Nancy Pelosi
House minority leader

With President Obama, Democrats enacted the toughest consumer safeguards in history to protect Main Street from recklessness of some on Wall Street. (Cheers, applause.) 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.

When you go to the polls, vote for women's rights. Vote for President Obama.

Ted Strickland
Former governor of Ohio

But today, from the staggering depths of the Great Recession, the nation has had 29 straight months of job growth. (Cheers, applause.) Workers across my state and across the country are getting back to work — the dignity of having a good job and a good salary.

That's why companies that Romney invested in were dubbed "outsourcing pioneers." Now, you know our nation was built by pioneers, pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of American workers here at home.

Anthony R. Foxx
Mayor of Charlotte, N.C.

— I live by my values. I live by the values my family and my community taught me. (Cheers, applause.)

This is a president who plans to give every child an opportunity to succeed. This is a leader who believes all Americans have a fair shot to go as far as their talents can take them.

ANGIE FLORES

I am a young woman with a bright future. President Obama and Vice President Biden know this. They don't want any American student to accept that education is only a luxury or that opportunity is simply for someone else.

Brian Schweitzer
Governor of Montana

(Cheers, applause.) Clinton arithmetic. Clinton arithmetic. (Cheers, applause.) Yeah. (Cheers, applause.)

KENYETTA JONES

Ed Meagher is a Vietnam war veteran who for nine years has been placing a welcoming arm around the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

ZACH WAHLS

(Laughter.) Otherwise, we're like any other family. We eat dinner, we go to church, we have chores. But some people don't see it that way.

Michael Nutter
Mayor of Philadelphia

That's what President Barack Obama did, saving 400,000 educators' jobs and giving states the flexibility to shape their schools. Mitt Romney doesn't get it. He recently visited a school in West Philly and told teachers that he knows more than they do about what works for their students.

Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Mayor of Los Angeles

They didn't talk about their plan to deny a woman control over the basic decisions that affect her health. No. The Romney campaign bragged that it wouldn't be dictated by fact-checkers.

CAROL BERMAN

It was the most important law of my lifetime. And Medicare was pretty great, too. But now we have "Obamacare," which preserves the promise of Medicare and a secure retirement.

Elizabeth Warren
Senate candidate, Massachusetts

We just don't want the game to be rigged. (Cheers, applause.) We've fought to level the playing field before. About a century ago, when corrosive greed threatened our economy and our way of life, the American people came together, under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt and other progressives, to bring our nation back from the brink.

David Foster
Former employee at a company controlled by Bain Capital

When Romney and Bain took over the mill, they loaded it up with millions in debt, and within months they used some of that borrowed money to pay themselves millions.

Benita Veliz
Dream Act Activist

We will keep fighting for reform, but while we do, we are able to work, study and pursue the American Dream. (Cheers, applause.) President Obama has fought for my community.

Kamala D. Harris
Attorney general of California

It belongs to the men and women across this country who know it shouldn't be against the law to marry the person you love. (Cheers, applause.)

KAREN MILLS

After all, half of all Americans who work own or work for a small business. They create two-thirds of all new jobs.

ED MEAGHER

— fully funding the new GI Bill, allowing over 800,000 veterans and their families to pursue an education and begin their post-military service to our country.

Steny Hoyer
House minority whip

He also didn't tell you that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to end the Medicare guarantee and turn it into a voucher, which would leave seniors with the increased costs. He also didn't tell you that President Obama has strengthened Medicare by taking away big subsidies to insurance companies and by tackling waste, fraud and abuse.

Cecile Richards
President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

(Cheers.) So this November, women are organizing, we're mobilizing and we're voting for the leaders who fight for us. (Cheers, applause.) Nearly 100 years ago, when Planned Parenthood was founded, birth control was illegal.

Arne Duncan
U.S. secretary of education

It's about giving every child a shot at a secure middle-class life. And right now, we're in a race for jobs and industries of the future.

Dannel P. Malloy
Governor of Connecticut

Medicare would become a voucher program, effectively ending the guarantee of health coverage for millions of senior citizens. (Boos.) Medicaid would be slashed, jeopardizing coverage for millions of children, people with disabilities and family members in long-term care.

Al Green
U.S. representative, Texas

(Cheers, applause.) Our faith tells us we have a moral obligation to better our community, to accept responsibility and to care for each other.

Tom Steyer
Co-Founder of Advanced Energy Economy

And domestic production of natural gas is at an all-time high — natural gas, which, if developed safely and responsibly, could help bridge our energy present to our energy future.

Patty Murray
U.S. senator, Washington

(Boos.) They would sell out our middle class to tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and big corporations. (Boos.)

Steve Israel
U.S. representative, New York

But that's not what America is getting from these Romney-Ryan Republicans. Instead of fighting for middle-class jobs here at home, they fought for tax breaks for big corporations sending jobs overseas.

John B. Larson
U.S. representative, Connecticut

And as we stand together with President Obama, not only will the eagle keep flying, it will soar! God bless you. God bless America. (Cheers, applause.)

Steve Westly
Former state controller and chief financial officer of California

We open-source. They outsource. We welcome the immigrants who build our businesses. Romney wants them to self-deport. We're building an economy to last.

Thomas M. Menino
Mayor of Boston

So it's an honor to be here tonight with so many people determined to move our country forward. I know all Americans are proud to carry the torch of progress.

John A. Pérez
Speaker of the California State Assembly

But President Obama said that failure was not an option. And today, American auto workers can sleep securely, knowing their jobs and the opportunities for a brighter future exist because President Obama fought for them.

Diana DeGette
U.S. representative, Colorado

— when they allow insurance companies to deny coverage based solely on the pre-existing condition of being a woman, it hurts women and families right in the pocketbook. When they take away the guarantee of coverage for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings in the Affordable Care Act, it will hurt women and families right in the pocketbook.

Julián Castro
Mayor of San Antonio

The dream is universal. But America makes it possible. And our investment in opportunity makes it a reality. (Cheers, applause.)

Maya Soetoro-Ng
Sister of Barack Obama

He's made sure women can fight for equal pay for equal work and stood up for the freedom to make our own decisions about our health.

Rahm Emanuel
Mayor of Chicago

(Applause.) And because President Obama made the right choice, over 1 million Americans are still working today.

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

Governor Romney, Congressman Ryan and their Republican colleagues say it's everyone for themselves.

STACEY LIHN

Knowing we have that net below us to catch us if we fall or if, God forbid, Zoe needs a heart transplant, "Obamacare" provides my family security and relief.

Ken Salazar
U.S. secretary of the Interior

And we are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, good middle-class jobs as we move forward with a clean energy economy. (Cheers, applause.) And thanks to President Obama's leadership, the auto industry is making cars that Americans want to buy, that get better gas mileage, that save money at the pump and reduce emissions.

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)

Tim Kaine
Former governor of Virginia

When I was governor during the worst recession since the Great Depression, Virginia maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in America. We kept our AAA bond rating.

Pat Quinn
Governor of Illinois

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!

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.

Bev Perdue
Governor of North Carolina

He actually understands that all parents want their children to have even better opportunities than they had as a child. This president's education initiatives are helping North Carolina schools and schools across America soar.

RYAN CASE

I'm studying political science. (Cheers, applause.) At 28, I'm two semesters away from graduating the University of Colorado.

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

But driving home late from that second job or standing there watching the gas pump hit $50 and still going, when the realtor told you that to sell your house, you'd have to take a big loss, in those moments you knew that this just wasn't right.

My friends cared more about what sports teams we followed than what church we went to. My mom and dad gave their kids the — the greatest gift of all — the gift of unconditional love.

(Boos.) His $716 billion cut to Medicare to finance "Obamacare" will both hurt today's seniors and oppress innovation and jobs in medicine.

(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.

Rob Portman
U.S. senator, Ohio

He got zero votes. That is a failure of leadership. (Cheers, applause.) President Obama has been right about at least one prediction he's made about the economy.

You have to liberate the productive power of the American people through policies that encourage innovation, risk-taking, investment and jobs. And you have to compete and win in the global economy.

We need to fix our burdensome regulatory system. And we need an energy policy that encourages the development of our resources right here, in the ground, in America.

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.

If you're willing to fight with me for Mitt Romney, I will fight with you.

Nikki Haley
Governor of South Carolina

And sadly, the hardest part of my job continues to be this federal government, this administration and this president.

(Cheers, applause.) I have had the pleasure of knowing Mitt Romney for several years now, and there is so much to appreciate about him.

(Applause.) We deserve a president who will strengthen our military, not destabilize them. (Applause.) America deserves better than what we have today.

Paul D. Ryan
Vice-presidential nominee

Not that hard. (Cheers, applause.) My dad used to say to me, son, you have a choice. You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution.

Not only a defender of marriage, he — he offers an example of marriage at its best.

Mike Huckabee
Former governor of Arkansas

The Democrats have brought back that old dance, the limbo, to see how low they can go in attempting to limit our ability to practice our faith. But this isn't a battle about contraceptives and Catholics but about conscience and the Creator.

(Cheers, applause.) Joe Biden — Joe Biden said, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.

John McCain
U.S. senator, Arizona

It is the responsibility that generation after generations of Americans has affirmed and carried forward. It is a cause that many Americans have sacrificed everything, absolutely everything to defend.

In other times, when other courageous people fought for their freedom against sworn enemies of the United States, American presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, have acted to help them prevail.

Rand Paul
U.S. senator, Kentucky

Mrs. Tang (sp) told us that the family works through the night to make doughnuts. The Tang (sp) family have become valedictorians and National Merit Scholars.

Mr. President, you say the rich must pay their fair share. But when you seek to punish the rich, the jobs that are lost are those of the poor and the middle class.

Marco Rubio
U.S. senator, Florida

A government intervention into health care paid for with higher taxes and cuts to Medicare, scores of new rules and regulations — these ideas don't move us forward.

KIM RHODE

(Cheers, applause.) Lea Ann Parsley, a silver medalist in the women's skeleton in 2002. (Cheers, applause.) Noelle Pikus-Pace, the 2007 skeleton world champion and 2010 Olympian.

DEREK PARRA

As the opening ceremonies got under way and the flag-bearing athletes and I gathered backstage, we were standing with the Port Authority officers whose job it was to oversee the flag. They began telling us how proud they were of us, that the families of the victims were proud of us, that all the people who lost their lives were proud of us.

JANE EDMONDS

My passion is about education, workforce training and leadership. When I first met Governor Romney, I was struck by his humanity, his grace, his kind manner.

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

My grandfathers, who came to this country with little more than hope and the opportunity of America, through their hard work and perseverance, they lived the American dream.

Newt Gingrich
Former speaker of the House of Representatives

For example, both crippled American energy production when there were better ways to develop and use our abundant energy resources.

Condoleezza Rice
Former Secretary of State

In that way we stay young and optimistic and determined. We need immigration laws that protect our borders, meet our economic needs and yet show that we are a compassionate nation of immigrants.

Tim Pawlenty
Former governor of Minnesota

America's entrepreneurs know taxes are too high and regulations are too costly and complex. "Obamacare" frightens them, and they want more American energy.

Steve Cohen
U.S. representative, Tennessee

All too often tariffs and unfair trade practices make it difficult for American businesses to export. We need a president that will protect America's patented inventions, guard the value of our currency and open up new markets for American products.

Sam Olens
Attorney general of Georgia

He promises to rescue our economy and environment by investing in green jobs but instead funnels your tax dollars into campaign donors' pockets. He promised to have the most transparent administration in history but now refuses to come clean with Congress and the American people about Fast and Furious.

Pam Bondi
Attorney general of Florida

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

John Thune
U.S. senator, South Dakota

Yet for all of President Obama's talk about the middle class, middle-class incomes are down. Folks, we won't be in this situation with Mitt Romney in the White House.

Chris Devlin-Young
Paralympic ski champion

Twenty-seven years ago, this California boy was introduced to ski racing at the first Veterans Administration winter sports clinic. I decided then and there to dedicate to my life to racing and coaching other injured veterans.

Mitch McConnell
Senate Republican leader

We hear the stories every day now: the father who puts on a suit every morning and leaves the house so his daughter doesn't know he lost his job, the recent college grad facing up to the painful reality that the only door that's open to her, after four years of study and a pile of debt, is her parents' door. These are the faces of the Obama economy.

Artur Davis
U.S. representative, Alabama

(Cheers.) When you hear the party that glorified Occupy Wall Street blast success, when you hear them minimize the genius of the men and women who make jobs out of nothing, is that what you teach your children about work?

Rick Santorum
Former U.S. senator, Pennsylvania

But President Obama's policies undermine the traditional family, weaken the education system. And this summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare.

Phil Archuletta
Small-business owner

In 2004, President Bush made it possible for our company to manufacture all the signs for federal agencies. When President Obama came on board, he pushed a stimulus. I believed that my business was going to explode with work.

Bob McDonnell
Governor of Virginia

In states with Republican governors, the average unemployment rate is a full point lower than in states with Democratic governors.

Mary Fallin
Governor of Oklahoma

We can and we will overcome any economic challenge if — and listen to this — if the federal government gets out of the way and if it lets go of the regulatory chokehold that's zapping the air out of our economy. And it's deflating the spirits of our entrepreneurs.

Reince Priebus
Republican National Committee chairman

He rises above it and charts a better path. He's my buddy, my congressman, and I can't wait to call him our next vice president!

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

We're here to preserve this country the same way we built it: by exercising our God-given right to set a new course. So who better to turn this tide than the man who has dedicated his career to doing just that for states, for businesses, for the Olympic Games?

Steve King
U.S. representative, Iowa

And no one has been more diligent and effective in working for the good of Wisconsin and America. Paul Ryan has the courage to tell the truth even when the truth is hard to hear.

Barbara Comstock
State representative, Virginia

His budget failure threatens to slash 200,000 national security and high-tech jobs in Virginia. His war on success undermines individual initiative and innovation.

Chris Fussner
Republicans Abroad chairman

So please, remind your friends and family living abroad that their civic duty does not end at the water's edge. Their vote matters, and every vote cast — those cast here or abroad.

Ranjit (Ricky) Gill
Congressional candidate, California

We need a new generation of leadership to chart the path, to fight for policies that create jobs rather than red tape and to help small businesses succeed rather than helping green energy companies fail.

Francisco (Quico) Canseco
U.S. representative, Texas

Along the nearly 800 miles of U.S.-Mexico border that I serve, farmers, small businesses and families are striving to live the American dream.

John Archer
Congressional candidate, Iowa

And this White House believes in a tax-and-spend philosophy. We have more doubt, families don't know how much "Obamacare" will cost them, and businesses don't know what new regulations will burden them and we have more despair.

Jason Chaffetz
U.S. representative, Utah

Excessive regulations choke businesses. Our tax code punishes success, discourages entrepreneurs and stifles growth.

Keith Rothfus
Congressional candidate, Pennsylvania

Hello, Pennsylvania! We heard and we will continue to hear a great deal about health care and Medicare in this election. And that's a good thing.

Mia Love
Congressional candidate, Utah

(Cheers, applause.) The American dream isn't just my story. It isn't just your story.

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