Barack Obama’s State of the Union Speech Registers an 8th Grade Reading Level on the Flesch-Kincaid Test … 3rd Lowest SOTU Score Since 1934

Barack Obama, are you smarter than a 8th grader …

Barack Obama has been touted as the smartest President ever. So then why was his 2012 State of the Union speech register an 8th grade reading level on the  Flesch-Kincaid readability test? Obama’s 2012 SOTU was the third lowest score since 1934. Obama’s SOTU average grade score of his three speeches is at an amazing 8.4, as compared to the 10.7 average if the previous 67 State of the Union addresses by twelve Presidents.  Coincidence, I think not.

The University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama’s three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. “Obama’s average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors,” they conclude.

“The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores,” the University of Minnesota’s Eric Ostermeier explains.

Obama’s use of simple language  is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year.

Is this the continued dumbing down of America? Kinda. However, it is telling to who Barack Obama is targeting his speech to. It has to be intentional to make a speech that much more simple than previous Presidents. 2.3 grade levels!!!

Is it any wonder why then that a President that would lower the reading level of a SOTU by so much would also play class warfare? Does anyone think that the targeted Obama speech listener actually takes the time to read and fact check what Obama says, or are they just blindly believing what The One says. I think we know the answer.

Just a note to Conservatives, the Tea Party and Republicans, don’t let any Liberal or Dem tell you that you are stupid. Not when Obama is having speeches targeted to an 8th grade reading level. Those who support Barack Obama should be insulted that the Obamamessiah feels the need to talk down to them. However, instead they will follow him blindly even though though “Hope & Change”  was a monumental hoax.