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By Anjeanette Damon (contact) 
Published Monday, May 21, 2012 | 12:43 p.m.
Updated Monday, May 21, 2012 | 3:21 p.m.
Mark Amodei
Ever listen to Rep. Mark Amodei give a speech and you know the man can be long-winded.
But his verbosity seems to have earned him a new ballyhooed distinction — ninth smartest speechmaker in Congress.
According to a new study by the Sunlight Foundation, Amodei speaks at almost a 14th grade level — putting him in the top 10 smartest speechmakers overall and the smartest speaker in Nevada’s delegation.
The study, which found Congress collectively speaks at a 10th grade level, relies on the Flesch-Kincaid test — which assigns grade levels based on use of longer words and longer sentences.
Amodei clearly wins out on the second measure.
Take one example from a speech he gave on the debt-ceiling earlier this year:
“Yes, there are loopholes, and, yes, there are others who may be able to pay more, but why on earth would you ask them to pay more into this system of spending that we have created, which is in no way accountable to any of those folks who are paying.”
Indeed even the authors of the study noted the limitations of the Flesch-Kincaid test.
“It tells us nothing about the clarity or correctness of a passage of text,” the author wrote.
Amodei responded to the ranking with characteristic self-deprecation.
"Nothing I have ever done with my life has ever been associated with outstanding academic achievement and I can assure you nothing has changed," Amodei said. "Maybe they ought to re-look at their criteria."
While Amodei’s verbose sentence structures earned him a high grade level, his vocabulary is hardly the most robust in Congress.
Since he’s been in Congress — which admittedly isn’t that long at less than one year — Amodei has used only two words that appear on the Kaplan list of 100 most common SAT words.
That puts Amodei squarely at the bottom of the pack.
Conversely, Sen. Harry Reid, who speaks at a 9th grade level — the lowest in Nevada’s delegation — has the strongest vocabulary, according to the study.
Well, at least at first glance.
Reid is ranked No. 1 for most frequently using words that appear on the top 100 list. But that’s because he loves to use the word "compromise."
He’s uttered "compromise" 147 times this session — more than any other lawmaker.
Of course, the study didn’t investigate how many times Reid’s usage of "compromise" was preceded by the term “failed to” or “refused to” or “just plain won’t.”
The work of the House is legislation. Making speeches instead of working won't cut it for long in the House.
Hmmm. Interesting that Anjeanette Damon leaves out the parties of Amodei and Reid. Is that because Amodei, the smart one, is a Republican and Reid, the dumb one, is a Democrat?
If the ratings had been the other way around, I guarantee the parties would have been noted.
As of this post, 2:30 p.m., the parties are not mentioned, just in case the Sun adds them later and pretends the parties were there the whole time.
With those talents, he would be more successful as a DJ.
Maybe we can assess their intellectual prowess based upon how much they actually accomplish anything. Silly story.
Please see the most profound video on youtube - An open letter to Gov Sandoval - the corruption and criminal underbelly of Nevada politics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSnEK205A...
I'm laughing at the selective reasoning here.
This guy Amodei is smart?
Let's go back to when he started campaigning for Congress. The very first commercial put out had Chinese troops marching in America, like it's been taken over, and if you want to prevent that from happening, you needed to vote for Amodei, the guardian of the free world.
And this guy is smart?
If this guy is indeed smart, then people need to get with me. Because I can sell you Echelon Place and the Fountainbleu here in Las Vegas. Both of them cheap.
Compared to the previous Nevada CD-2 representatives; Barbara Vucanovich, Jim Gibbons, Dean Heller, then Amodei looks like a genius.
Compared to Joe Heck, Amodei is the Winston Churchill of Nevada.
Compared to Nevada Republican immortals Chic Hecht, John Ensign, Jim Gibbons, Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian, Kathy Augustine, Elizabeth Halseth, then Amodei is the son of god (i.e. St. Ronald Reagan).
Yours in Christ,
Rob Whitetrash - proud white Republican Christian man of the 2nd Congressional District
Yep, one of our most prominent Nevada officials [along w/his buddies] who managed to take us to one of the lowest "state integrity" scores in the nation! Wow a D-, you sure do makes us proud! Your lucky most voters never read the paper or follow the legislature for that matter because if they did, they would've knocked you on your keyster. One of my favorite stories is how you conned a $150,000 of taxpayers money for a state helicopter that NEVER left the hangar. Good job media. I even remember fellow lawmakers praising you for your work, "Gee Mark, we'll have to put your name on it".
To the reporter: It's not what an elected offical says...it's WHAT he DOES that matters!