With all of the fuss over Sarah Palin’s convention speech, I’ve been thinking a lot about effective speech-writing. (Which one of the Republican Convention masterminds, by the way, thought it was a good idea for Joe Lieberman to repeat basically the same idea—”country matters more than party” or “what matters is certainly not whether we are Democrats or Republicans”—at least 10 times in 10 minutes?)

A new piece in Slate points out that throughout this long presidential campaign season, both parties have taken advantage of the same rhetorical trick: antimetabole, or repeating words in a reverse order. This “reversible raincoat,” as those in the ‘biz call it, was most famously executed in 1961, when JFK said in his inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

Here, courtesy of Slate, are instances of antimetabole in this election season:

McCain, last Thursday:
“We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”

Palin, last Wednesday:
“In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”

Bill Clinton, last week:
“People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.”

Obama, in August:
“He has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn’t changed him”

Romney, during the primaries:
“Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom.”

And, in apt closing…

Hillary, in March:
“In the end the true test is not the speeches a president delivers, it’s whether the president delivers on the speeches.”