Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Sen. John Walsh, looking beyond the 3 June primary election, delivered a standard Democratic touch base with all constituencies speech at the party’s annual Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner in Helena Saturday evening.
Speaking simply — his Flesch-Kincaid reading age score was 11 years; sixth grade — he said, in effect, “I’m just a plain spoken soldier boy from Butte, but I know right from wrong, I care deeply about the people the Democratic party traditionally represents, I’ll fight the good fight for you as your Senator, and I’ll never forget nor betray my roots like rich Shutdown Steve Daines.” An effective message for a Democratic audience.
At the end of his remarks he revealed his strategy for countering Republican claims that his reprimand from the Army’s vice chief of staff disqualifies him for high office:
There’s one other person here I want to recognize. Sergeant John Bennett. Janet and I have the honor of sitting with John. In 2004, John was part of a Montana National Guard patrol that came under sniper fire.
Back then, National Guard Humvees didn’t have the same armor as Army Humvees. Do you know what protected the roof of Sergeant Bennetet’s Humvee? A piece of plywood.
That’s no match for the attack John endured. Tonight, John is with us in a wheelchair. Most of us can’t imagine that kind sacrifice for our nation. John, we honor that sacrifice tonight and forever.
It’s because of John Bennett that fighting for Montana troops runs deep. I encouraged all my officers to join an organization that sticks up for National Guard units across the nation. Because of that organization’s work, National Guard equipment is stronger.
You are going to hear ads attacking me on TV, calling into question decisions I made to protect the men and women under my command. And you know what I say: I will never apologize for fighting for Montana.
We have too much at stake. We have too much to fight for. And I’m honored to go into that fight, with all of my friends by my side.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for all your work. And God bless you all.
This is a variation on waving the bloody shirt, and it should be reasonably effective.
His speech’s readability statistics are below. And for your convenience, I typeset his full remarks as prepared for delivery (PDF).
| Word & character statistics | Value |
|---|---|
| Words | 2,201 |
| Paragraphs | 113 |
| Unique Words | 762 |
| Characters | 12,301 |
| Characters In Words | 9,721 |
| Sentences | 200 |
| Average Word Length | 4.4 |
| Average Sentence Length | 48.6 |
| Average Words Per Sentence | 11.0 |
| Long Words (7 or more characters) | 441 |
| Short Words (3 or fewer characters) | 964 |
| Syllables | 3,219 |
| Monosyllabic Words | 1,512 |
| Polysyllabic Words (3 or more syllables) | 271 |
| Readability Statistic | Value |
| Automated Readability Index | 4.9 |
| Coleman Index | 7.5 |
| Coleman-Liau Index | 10.2 |
| Dale Chall Readability Index | 7.1 |
| Dale Chall Readability Grade Level | 9 - 10 |
| Degrees Of Reading Power (DRP) | 57 |
| Degrees Of Reading Power Grade Level | 7 |
| Fang Easy Listening Formula | 5 |
| Fang Easy Listening Interpretation | Easy |
| Farr-Jenkins-Patterson Score | 67 |
| Farr-Jenkins-Patterson Reading Ease | Standard |
| Flesch Reading Ease Score | 72 |
| Flesch Reading Ease | Fairly Easy |
| Flesch Reading Ease Grade Level | 7 |
| Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level | 6.0 |
| Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age | 11.0 |
| Fry Readability Grade Level | 7 |
| Fry Readability Reading Age | 12 |
| FORCAST Grade Level | 9.7 |
| FORCAST Reading Age | 14.7 |
| Gunning Fog Index (FOG) | 9.3 |
| Gunning Fog Reading Age | 14.3 |
| Henshall formula | 1,364.7 |
| Johnson Readability | 31.3 |
| Johnson Grade Level | 8 or higher |
| Lexical Density | 34.6 |
| Laesbarhedsindex (LIX) Index | 31.0 |
| Laesbarhedsindex (LIX) Readability | Easy |
| Laesbarhedsindex (LIX) Grade Level | Less than 5 |
| Linsear Write Readability | 5.9 |
| McAlpine EFLAW© Test | 15.8 |
| McAlpine EFLAW© Readability | Very Easy |
| Miyazaki EFL Readability Index | 60.9 |
| Power-Sumner-Kearl Grade Level | 5.3 |
| Power-Sumner-Kearl Reading Age | 10.3 |
| Rate Index (RIX) | 2.2 |
| Rate Index (RIX) Grade Level | 6 |
| Raygor Readability Grade Level | 6 |
| SMOG Score | 9.8 |
| SMOG Index | 9.0 |
| SMOG Reading Age | 14.0 |
| Spache Readability Index (Original) | 3.8 |
| Spache Readability Index (Revised) | 3.3 |
| Wheeler Smith Index | 30.8 |
| Wheeler Smith Grade Level | 4 |