Campaignspeak

"That's why I need you so badly, Zoë. You know how to translate the harsh realities of foreign policy into relatively intelligible campaignspeak." Zoë laughed. "Intelligible campaignspeak is an oxymoron."

The media and the public do in fact relish catching politicians' lies, but these are the small lies — lies about money, sex, drug use and other peccadillos, and the ritual doubletalk of campaignspeak.

Unfortunately, The Political Brain doesn't follow up on the implications of this research. Rather, Westen, who describes himself as ardently "pro-Democratic," transposes his clinical findings into one-sided campaignspeak.