Don't feel too bad if you don't know that Richard Greene has a radio show called "Clout." It's on Air America which means, of course, that the title is pretty ironic, even if it isn't meant that way. Greene is one of those lefties who cannot fathom any reasoned basis for disagreement with his political faith, and therefore writes tired, cliched and barely readable pieces such as "The Psychopathology of The Republican" to demonstrate to himself and his vast audience that the half of the country that doesn't see things his way is mentally ill. Yeah, mentally ill -- and this coming from no less than a "9-11 Truther" and assassination conspiracy loon. So far, nothing newsworthy here.

In fact, though, Greene, a former lawyer, is a professional "communications coach," and his website tells you -- twice in the first 65 words -- that he was crowned by the Times of London "the Master of Charisma." (That's gotta hurt someone!) Indeed he does have a nice smile, and a book. (I should have gotten a free consultation in exchange for this ultra-valuable plug!)

The Master of Charisma also has a nice publicist, the charming and straightforward Leslie Grant. And what is interesting is that the same Greene -- who is, after all, an expert at speechifying -- has circulated, via Leslie, a pretty interesting, and arguably objective, "report card" of "psychopath" (per Greene) Sarah Palin's speech at the convention, and it goes like this:

The Sarah Palin Speech Report Card

As Greene predicted, Gov. Sarah Palin did, indeed, "rock the house" with her address. She instantly became a "celebrity"/"rock star" much like Sen. Obama (due to HIS speech at the 2004 convention) and has changed the game for the 2008 general election.

Greene says that the speech accomplished 4 things:

1. Solidified and energized the Republican base

2. Ratified John McCain's suspect judgment in picking her

3. Made the Republican ticket attractive to small town residents and women across the country who would not otherwise have participated in the election in any way

4. Made a huge step forward in establishing her as ready to step into the Oval Office, if that were necessary. There is still more work to be done on that front, however.

Quality:

Poise: A+
Humor: A-
Connection to the crowd: A
Voice Tone: C-
Toughness: A
Gravitas: B-
Warmth: B+
Modulation and variation of voice to achieve effect: A

Substance:
a) When talking about John McCain: C+
b) When talking about her life and family: A
c) When attacking Obama and Biden: A
d) When discussing national and international policies: C-

Likability: A

Ready to be "Commander in Chief": C (up from a D before the speech)

Overall Grade: A

There are two possibilities here. One is that Richard Greene makes believe he's deranged, bona fide radical-left hatemonger, because from such things people can sometimes make a living. Note that this is a guy with a syndicated radio show and a blog on something akin, at least conceptually, to a national platform -- and he's circulating a press release to conservative bloggers instead of publishing the item himself. Acknowledging Sarah Palin's merits could be bad for business.

The other possibility is that the political Richard Greene is for real, but the speechmaking and consulting hustler within him cries out, Truther-like, that Sarah Palin is .... that good.

Cross-posted on Ron Coleman's pretty good Likelihood of Success bloggy thingy.