Rbbert Reich wrote:

Mitt is reputed to say whatever an audience wants to hear, but that’s not quite right. In reality he says nothing, but does it in such way audiences believe they’ve heard what they want to hear. He is the chameleon candidate. To call Mitt Romney an empty suit is an insult to suits.

which reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation:

“That,” replied Hardin, “is the interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Houk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications—in short all the goo and dribble—he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out. Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion didn’t say one damn thing, and said it so that you never noticed. There are the assurances you had from your precious Empire.”

The same SF quote can be applied to many other (most?) American politicians who make the national stage.