More 'prepared remarks' before a political speech

Posted to a blog on The Denver Post's website an advance copy of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech. I'll cross my fingers, give you the link and hope they're still archiving the speech when class meets tomorrow.

But I'll copy and paste the heading and the first few grafs, too. Here's the header:

Excerpts of the Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
"The American Promise"
Democratic National Convention
August 28, 2008
Denver, Colorado
As prepared for delivery

Compare the tag in the AP pre-story on vice presidential candidate Joe Bidens' speech that I posted last night -- "Biden said in excerpts of his prepared remarks." It's basically the same formula as the one used here -- "As prepared for delivery." Whenever you see something about "prepared remarks," it means an advance copy of the speech that likely will be changed, at least a little, as the speaker ad libs during delivery.

Obama's speech, the one he'll give tonight, was posted to the Post's blog at 4:54 p.m. Mountain time (which was 5:54 our time), and Obama isn't scheduled to speak till 8 MDT (or 9 our time). Here's his opening:

"Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

"It is that promise that has always set this country apart that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

"It is why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

"We meet at one of those defining moments a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay and tuition that is beyond your reach.

"These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed presidency of George W. Bush.

"America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this."

The rest, I guess, is history. Or will be. But in the meantime, the guys who have to write something intelligent about the speech can get a running head start on it.

And that in a nutshell is why public officials give the media pre-written copies of their speeches, or "prepared remarks," before they give the speeches.

Sharp-eyed readers will no doubt notice Obama's speechwriters -- or the candidate himself, since he typically drafts his own speeches -- weren't using AP style when they mentioned the 232 years of American history. (You did notice that, didn't you? Right. Of course you did.) But when you're writing a speech, you write it to be read aloud. It's like broadcast writing, and you write out the numbers.