Domestic topics, not wars have dominated "Obama Speak" since taking office

Washington, Aug.14 (ANI): Believe it or not, U.S. President Barack Obama has uttered over half-million words in public since taking office on January 20, and surprisingly, they have not been dominated by his views on wars, but more focused on domestic topics like health and the state of the American economy.

A Politico analysis of nearly every word in this vast public record shows Obama to be more a peacetime president than a commander in chief with more than 100,000 troops in the field.

He has spoken the words "health" and "economy" each more often than the words "Iraq," "Iran," "Afghanistan" and "terrorism" combined, the analysis shows.

"Jobs" are mentioned twice as often as "security" and four times more than"war."

"America" and its cousin "American" - feel-good favorites for speechwriters - combine to top the list of major nouns, with 2,929 mentions.

And equally telling are the words all but banished from the Obama lexicon.

The president has come under fire from progressive groups for failing to advance a gay-rights agenda.

Indeed, he has said the word "gay" only 13 times while in office, according to the analysis.Abortion" received just 15 mentions, and "immigration" came in at 39.

Obama may be presiding over two wars and facing a terror threat at home and abroad, but you'd hardly know it from listening to Obama speak.

Deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton said: "The president's record of standing by our troops, launching new strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan and restoring our leadership in the world stands for itself. Nothing is more important to the president than keeping the American people safe."

To some Democrats, Obama's word choice is spot-on, a reflection of the themes he used to get elected and the concerns on the minds of Americans.

The disparity in his choice of language between topics domestic and foreign is so distinct that Republicans charge that it shows a predisposition toward downplaying the threats abroad, the ones that his predecessor George W. Bush faced. (ANI)