The Perfect Presidential Stump Speech

We asked former Republican speechwriter Barton Swaim and Democratic speechwriter Jeffrey Nussbaum to write a ​totally pandering bipartisan stump speech for an imaginary presidential candidate — one who ​espouses only positions that a majority of voters agree with. ​Here’s the speech they wrote, including notes to explain their phrasing, behind-the-scenes tips on appealing to voters and the data they used to decide which positions to take.

By Barton Swaim and Jeff Nussbaum

Research by Harry Enten, Christianna Silva and David Nield, graphics by Ella Koeze, production by Gus Wezerek