奧巴馬講話是如何煉成的

President Barack Obama’s speech on economic policy Wednesday will be the first in an ambitious series of six addresses laying out a sweeping vision for America’s future. The philosophy at the core of the campaign will be familiar, but there will be “aggressive new ideas.”

That’s according to Cody Keenan, the speechwriter in charge of crafting what may be Obama’s most far-reaching second-term effort to get Americans to sign on to his plans.

Keenan sat down with Yahoo News for an exclusive interview in his office in the basement of the West Wing, a windowless space with a ceiling so low that the president’s head brushes it when he pays a visit. The walls are covered in political memorabilia, and the famous “bikini graph” on his desk sits next to a can of Red Bull.

Keenan, who at 32 holds the lofty title of director of speechwriting, pulled the curtain back on the process of writing a major presidential address. He also described how Mike Ditka could have kept Obama from reaching the White House, and what happens if you argue with the president about what he should say — and win.

Obama’s six speeches will cover education, housing, retirement security, health care, poverty and jobs, Keenan said, lightly tapping a cup of black, unsweetened iced coffee on his desk.

"In the weeks ahead — especially when it comes to college costs, which is something he’s obsessed with — we’ll have some aggressive new ideas,” said Keenan.

The president is giving the first one at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., because that's where he laid out his economic philosophy in 2005 in a commencement address generally regarded as his first speech on the issue as a national political figure.

The economy remains the top issue on the mind of Americans, and top White House aides acknowledge that many are not seeing first-hand the benefits of steady but slow growth — which may explain the president’s poor ratings on the economy.

Obama himself told supporters late Monday that he doesn’t think the speech “is going to change any minds.” But politicians of both parties are mindful that the 2014 midterm elections are just around the corner.

The Republican response to Obama’s planned speech has been instructive. After initially scoffing that the White House was cooking up a “nothingburger,” they have aggressively tried to set the debate on their terms.

So how does a speech like this come into being?

Keenan formally got the assignment in early June when senior Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer wandered into the speechwriter’s office and announced that the president had decided he wanted to return to Knox College to deliver an economic policy address in mid-July.

“It was just kind of a question of when we would go back, and now seemed as good a time as any,” the speechwriter said.

So Keenan booked an Oval Office meeting with Obama at 10:30 a.m. on June 14 to discuss the themes and structure of the address. Pfeiffer, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors also took part. So did Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri and Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco.

“I’ll just ask for some time with the president to get what I call ‘The Download.’ And I’ll just take my laptop in there and let him talk for 20 or 30 minutes while I just furiously take notes,” Keenan says. “He’ll give you the basic structure to go on.”

Keenan emerged with “with three or four pages of unfiltered POTUS,” he said, using the popular D.C. acronym for “President of the United States.” After doing some research (and being especially productive while much of the staff was with Obama in Africa), he put together a 20-page outline, which turned into a first draft that landed on the president’s desk July 14.

Keenan opened a folder labeled “Presidential Statement,” pulling out four pages of cramped but tidy notes in black pen on yellow legal pad paper — Obama’s copious edits. With a wry smile, he held up page 4 of that early version, entirely crossed out by the president.

“He’ll kind of destroy the first draft a little bit,” Keenan said. “I saw his point. His argument here was just ‘too long.’” So RIP, page 4.

The drafts — Obama has seen six — “get tidier and tidier,” and Wednesday’s speech is pretty much done, “which is great 24 hours out.”

Keenan has been discussing the changes with the president “during his lunchtime” for about 10 minutes, then working to turn around another draft overnight.

What if he disagrees with a presidential edit? How do you tell the most powerful man in the world that he's wrong about what he should say?

“At this point, you know, I don’t push back aggressively, but I can argue pretty well for a point. I’d say the first couple of years I wouldn’t dare to do that.”

Does he ever win those kinds of debates?

“Rarely. And when you do, he never lets you forget that you made him take out something he liked,” Keenan said with a chuckle. “But it’s rare.”

Keenan has a team of four domestic policy writers helping out, but Obama’s top economic advisers see every draft. They include Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; Gene Sperling, head of the National Economic Council; and Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell.

“But it’s mostly a back-and-forth between me and him,” he said, meaning Obama.

The days start at 7:45 a.m. (that’s when McDonough holds a regular meeting in his office), and for the past two weeks they’ve ended between midnight and 2 a.m.

Asked how quickly he plans to chase the coffee with the Red Bull, Keenan replied “that’s for later,” when he needs a boost around 10-11 p.m. His most productive hours, he said, are between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m., when the flood of emails thins to a trickle and there are fewer people, if any, popping into his office.

No, he doesn’t get presidential voice mails at 3 a.m. “He is a night owl, though,” Keenan said. And “I’m not a morning guy.”

Keenan's office walls are covered with mementos, including a Ted Kennedy poster inscribed with a note from the late senator, for whom Keenan used to work. Guests can also spot a photograph of Keenan, dressed as a pirate, talking with Obama. The picture, autographed by the president, was part of Obama’s jokey speech to the 2009 White House Correspondents Dinner.

In a room packed with souvenirs that would make a political junkie drool, what's his favorite? A White House gift shop football signed by members of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears. The space shuttle Challenger tragedy sidetracked their trip to the White House. So Obama invited them to visit in October 2011.

"You try to act pretty cool when important people come around the White House. This was the one day I just threw it out the window," Keenan said.

"Ditka was just the nicest guy," he added. "Mike Ditka could have prevented Barack Obama from becoming president, because he almost ran against him in '04, in Illinois, and he might have won."據美國媒體報道，奧巴馬總統7月24日將發表經濟政策講演，這是他六篇講演的第一篇，這些講演裏，奧巴馬將談論教育、住房、退休保障、醫療健康、貧困與就業多方面的問題，這可能是奧巴馬在第二任期影響最深遠的演講，奧巴馬期待藉此獲得美國民衆對他計劃的支持。

那麼，這些講演稿是怎麼寫成的呢？

爲他撰寫這些演講稿的是科迪·基南。年僅32歲的他已經擁有總統講演主撰稿人的高級頭銜。他向我們揭示了總統主要講演稿撰寫過程的內幕，以及如果你與總統辯論他的講演詞——而且獲勝之後，會發生什麼。

基南是在六月初得到這個任務的，當時，奧巴馬的資深顧問法伊弗走進這位講演撰稿人的辦公室，宣佈總統決定在7月中旬回諾克斯學院做一篇經濟政策演講。身爲美國總統撰稿人，基南的辦公室不過是間地下室。位於白宮西側的這個地下室沒有窗子，總統來訪時頭能蹭到低矮的天花板。

基南與奧巴馬約定6月14日上午10:30在白宮的橢圓形總統辦公室會面，共同討論這篇講演的主題和結構。

“我會只帶着我的筆記本電腦去，讓他講個二三十分鐘，而我只是拼命記錄，”基南說。 “ 他會告訴你基本結構。”

基南整理了“三到四頁未經過濾的總統原話”。做過更多調查後，他完成了一份20頁的大綱，由此寫成的第一份草稿在7月14日放到了總統的辦公桌上。

基南打開一個標有“總統聲明”的文件夾，抽出四頁紙，上面是緊湊整齊的文字，用黑色墨水筆寫在黃色便籤紙上，奧巴馬在上面做過多處修改。基南苦笑了一下，舉起早期底稿的第四頁，總統刪除了上面全部的話。

“第一稿有些部分會被他徹底否決，”基南說。“我看到了他的觀點。他在此處的意見只有一個 ，‘太長’”，所以撕掉第四頁。

草稿——記住，奧巴馬一共有六份——“變得越來越有條理”，7月24日的演講稿已經基本完成，“演講距現在只剩24個小時了”。

在總統的午餐時間，基南與他用十分鐘討論了改動的部分，他隨後連夜整理出另一份草稿。

如果他不同意總統的修改怎麼辦？你怎麼對全世界最有權力的人說，他認爲他該說什麼的看法是錯的？

“在這樣的時候，你知道，我不會激烈地反駁，但我可以很好地說明我的觀點。我得說，我在最初幾年可不敢這麼做。”

在這樣的爭論中他贏過嗎？

“很少。但當你贏了，他從來不會讓你忘記，你讓他放棄了他喜歡的觀點，”基南輕聲笑了。“但很少有這樣的時候。”

基南有一支四人團隊幫他撰寫國內政策的部分，但奧巴馬的首席經濟顧問們會親自審閱每篇草稿。這些人中包括經濟顧問委員會主席克魯格、國家經濟委員會主席斯珀林、還有行政管理和預算局局長伯韋爾。

“但主要是我和他交換意見，”基南說，這裏的他指奧巴馬。

一天的工作從早上7:45開始，過去兩週，他們要到午夜或凌晨2點才結束工作。

他最多產的時間是晚7點到凌晨2點，這時候郵件少了，也沒有幾個人在此時拜訪他的辦公室。

他不會在凌晨3點收到總統的語音郵件。“他是個夜貓子，”基南說。“我也不是個愛早起的人。”