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OBAMA CAMPAIGN WINS RUN-ON SENTENCE PRIMARY.
From a weekend press release:
Today, Senator Barack Obama today delivered a speech on helping working families succeed in a global economy by changing the Washington culture of gimmicks and game-playing and creating a new kind of politics that ends the influence of lobbyists, brings both parties together, and tells the American people the truth about the challenges we face.
--Dana Goldstein
COMMENTS (5)
Just because a sentence is long does not make it a run-on sentence. Read a nineteenth century novel. That sentence seems perfectly proper.
Posted by: John | May 5, 2008 11:02 AM
Yeah, it doesn't seem to meet the def. of run-on (there's only one independent clause there). It is, however, a very poorly constructed sentence with modifiers flung about willy-nilly.
If I'm reading it correctly, that was one powerful speech. It didn't just talk about things; it actually ENDED partisanship and lobbyist influence. Heavy sighs of relief all around.
Posted by: grammar slut | May 5, 2008 11:10 AM
Yeah. Grammatically it's okay, except for the inexplicable extra "today." But these folks presumably stay up real late, etc.
And no, it ain't a pretty sentence. Nor does it make a lot of substantive sense (though of course that's normal for press-release-ese.) If the goal is to "bring both parties together," why exactly do I belong to this one?
Posted by: UToledo Writing Tutor | May 5, 2008 11:38 AM
hahaha - I love this. The best item in the kitchen sink today is the grammar of a staffer? Clearly this is not a run-on sentence, it just has the extra "today" in it. Reverends, grammar, label pins and a recorded statement taken out of context. This is what y'all got? At least it's not dead staffers and supporters. See Death by Clinton: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/none/47-people-have-died-around-the-clintons-160828/
Posted by: Melanie | May 5, 2008 1:53 PM
Yup, it's grammatically correct. :)
Posted by: UofL English Professor | May 5, 2008 5:16 PM