It was the precisely the kind of gruff, plain speaking that appeals to Australians.
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The underdogs have made integrity and plain speaking the defining characteristics of the campaign.
This plain speaking sets Mr Kennedy apart from Labour, which is stealthier about its tax policies.
Harry Truman may be remembered for plain speaking, but the IRS may soon have to join in.
No less obvious is the fact that ideas about plain speaking do not travel easily across the Channel.
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Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams said she had been reminded of Lady Thatcher's "forthright style and plain speaking".
It is not her heritage that appeals to voters but her plain speaking.
The second question is what sorts of plain speaking cause the most excitement.
It can only be won by staking out clear positions, plain speaking, and trusting that the majority of voters agree.
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There is a subsidiary market in plain speaking on abortion and homosexuality, and on the mega-issue lurking behind them: God.
This, though, wasn't mere plain speaking from a man who loves to be loathed by those he mocks as "the liberati".
First, who are the figures whose plain speaking provokes the most fuss?
The answer is plain speaking about race, immigration and Islam, which seem to rouse the upmarket classes as much as the tabloid-reading ones.
Three possible conclusions arise from this spurt of plain speaking.
All the virtues that the Plaid leader played up during her election have been in evidence since - approachability, plain speaking, a non-metropolitan, unspun approach to politics, even a refreshing (some might say) aversion to overt political strategising.
In comes a plain-speaking promise that Win Me makes computing simpler and more fun.
Now Alan Mulally, Ford's plain-speaking new chief executive, has set out to fix this.
But also Labour, unlike those awful Tories, was trustworthy, ethical, plain-speaking, decisive, united, visionary.
Too often, party colleagues were left to fight the fires after another round of good old plain-speaking from MM.
Shortly afterwards Karolos Papoulias, the plain-speaking Greek president, told Mrs Merkel the Greeks could not endure much more austerity.
Yet their plain-speaking and promises to care for the elderly, reduce taxes and preserve indigenous traditions strike a chord with many.
You could argue that what has been described as gaffes is in fact plain-speaking that fit well with his general narrative of taking a tougher line than Obama.
It is unclear whether a few men in white shirts took MM aside for some plain-speaking of their own, or whether Mr Lee took the decision by himself to resign from the cabinet.
And it is no more plain-speaking, for on fuel with one breath it claims the tax must be high on environmental grounds and with another it justifies it because of spending on health and schools.
Mr Mujica is known for his informal and plain-speaking style, and has said that he models himself on former Brazilian president Lula Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a left-leaning former trade unionist known for a centrist approach.
Instead of speaking in plain English, they fill their conversations with overused jargon and buzzwords.
Known for his plain-spoken approach and penchant for speaking from the cuff, Biden wasted little time taking to the traditional vice presidential candidate's role of political attack dog.
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