When Senator John McCain accepts the Republican nomination in St. Paul on Thursday, he will have low expectations of his speech working in his favor, according to a speechwriter for five Republican presidents. It was the reverse for Senator Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech; expectations were very high and the senator failed to meet them, said James Humes in an interview in his Pueblo, Colorado home, south of Denver. Humes is the author of more than 20 books on speechwriting and history, including a biography of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Obama will probably end up having given the better nomination speech, but due to different expectations, McCain will have the advantage, according to Humes. McCain's "straight-talk will resonate better with the Joe Sixpack vote than Obama's speech did," Humes said, adding that Obama has "got the Burgundy vote but not the Bud vote."

Now a visiting historian at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Humes sees a historical parallel to McCain and Obama's rivalry in the matchup of Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidential campaign. At the time, many assumed it was a "Republican year" and that Dewey's opera training, baritone voice, and soaring oratory would make him the winner. But Humes says Dewey spoke in abstract terms and gave a speech full of references to hope and progress and Truman's straight-talk won him the election.

Humes would advise McCain to subtly criticize Obama's superior speaking skills by saying something like "in terms of experience and fitness for office, Obama is the better speaker." McCain should also learn to use a teleprompter better, as Obama is a "very gifted reader of the teleprompter, perhaps the most gifted we've seen."

All politicians need to make their weaknesses into strengths, says Humes. As such, McCain should joke more about his age.

A former speechwriter for presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush senior, Humes also suggests McCain start out "very strong, in a way that shows his humor about himself. I don't think Obama shows much humor." He should focus on his strengths, particularly his experience in foreign policy, and mention that Obama has made misstatements on the issue, such as when the Democratic candidate said that Iran was a "tiny" country that does not "pose a serious threat" to the United States.

All politicians need to make their weaknesses into strengths. As such, McCain should joke more about his age, perhaps undercutting concern that he is the oldest candidate to run for president in history by mentioning that he has the oldest mother of any candidate that has ever run.

Humes, who has written a series of books on the "Wit and Wisdom" of various presidents, judges that neither candidate has uttered any particularly memorable quotations so far, although Obama's speeches, like President Clinton's, leave the audience feeling that he is "emotionally with them."  

But Humes says Obama must state more overtly that he loves the United States and use self-deprecation to dampen critics' accusations of hubris.  

Humes himself seems conscious of not appearing too proud. A tall and elegant figure with his thick white hair, navy blue blazer, red handkerchief, and khaki pants, he begins our interview with a house tour that starts in, of all places, the bathroom. In it are about 20 framed photos of Humes with presidents and other famous people. Beneath the towelrack is a framed series of Humes shaking hands with the five presidents he has written speeches for, along with the jacket cover of his book "Confessions of a White House Ghostwriter." There is also a photo of President Bush senior with a personal note addressed to Humes, and the same from the current president, although this one is above the toilet. The current president likes to give nicknames and calls Churchill-expert Humes "Winston."  

Although President Bush's speaking style is often lampooned, his second inaugural is "one of the great speeches" in history, according to Humes. The president recognizes the importance of oratory, unlike the older President Bush, who "told me all speeches are bullshit, basically," Humes said. Now, that's straight-talk.

Eleanor Stables is associate editor at THE AMERICAN.

Photograph by Eleanor Stables.