"God bless you"

For a while now, I've been suspicious of Hillary Clinton's use of "God bless you" to conclude her speeches. At times, she would conclude by invoking god and at other times she would not. I noticed she started talking more about god after the 2004 presidential election when George Bush successfully discussed (or, more accurately, exploited) religion.

Just as Hillary varies her accent depending on the region of the country where she speaks, so I began to suspect that Hillary may be so phony and crafted that she even calculates whether to say "God bless you." I decided to investigate further and my hunch appears to be true (admittedly, there is no hard and fast rule and exceptions exist).

When Hillary is in states with a lot of religious voters (e.g., Iowa and Georgia), she tends to conclude by saying "God bless you." In contrast, when she is in states with fewer religious voters (e.g., Massachusetts and California), she tends to conclude by simply saying "Thank you."

Consider the following:

In an 1/3/08 speech in Iowa, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very, very much. God bless you."

In a 1/4/08 speech in New Hampshire, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very much."

In a 1/31/08 speech in Georgia to a faith-friendly audience, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you and God bless America."

In a 1/11/08 speech in California, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very, very much."

In a 12/5/07 speech in New York, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very much."

In a 11/29/07 speech in California to a faith-friendly audience, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very much and God speed."

In a 11/10/07 speech in Iowa, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you and God bless you."

In a 11/1/07 speech in Massachusetts, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very, very much."

In a 8/23/07 speech in New Hampshire, Hillary closed by saying: "Thank you all very much."