As the 2012 Presidential campaign heats up, a Washington Post story (video below) has emphasized Republican's disdain for Barack Obama's use of a teleprompter when giving the majority of his speeches. The logic goes that anyone who needs a teleprompter - especially in a room of just a few children - can't be sincere or intelligent, and is perhaps just a pawn for those crafting the messages. The running joke has spawned similar mocking in the blogosphere, including a site dedicated to the topic - TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States) - told from the voice of the teleprompter itself.

Interestingly enough, this is not a new criticism of Barack Obama. As the following clip from a segment of the Late Show with David Letterman highlights, critics were running with the same story back in 2009. Letterman's segment comes to Obama's defense by making a joke at the expense of those that don't use a teleprompter; see for yourself:

In a way, the great teleprompter brouhaha seems oddly reminiscent of the great bush bulge brouhaha from the Presidential debates where people seemed convinced he was being fed answers through an ear piece.

Here at Sweet Speeches, we don't want you to be jealous of Bush's special ear piece or Obama's omnipresent TOTUS, so we have provided you, our loyal users, with your very own "TELEPROMPTOR" on each speech page. Nevermind that it's mispelled, that's what we call 'artistic license.' We hope you'll use your personal teleprompter to gain a better connection with your heroes, their ideas and the words they speak as they speak them.

Enjoy ~ DJ Sweet Speeches