A look at leads.

The Star Tribune reported Saturday that Gov. Pawlenty was third in a straw poll of potential GOP contenders at a Washington Conferene.

The lead of the story looked like this:
"WASHINGTON – Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished third in a straw poll of potential GOP presidential contenders at a conservative conference in Washington Saturday, receiving only one vote less than second place finisher Mitt Romney." (Star Tribune)

The lead is tight, and jam-packed with information. However, it is the grammatical tactic of alliteration that jumps out to create a well woven lead. The sentence itself is intertwined with poll, potential and presidential, and followed by contenders, conservative and conference. Not only is the sentence concise and straightforward with the bulk of the story's intent, the alliteration causes the central ideas to literally pop forward with such a keen device. Whether an individual remembers their primary days in which they learned the official, grammatical term, one is certain to find the lead alluring when read aloud.

While the lead may begin to sound like a hip-hop rhyme with its rhythm, it can be argued that the importance of the information in the lead can be lost within such a complex sentence. Indeed the headline seems more straightforward than the lead of the story. It could be taken down by several words, and while Mitt Romney is a famous individual and recognizable by most of the readers of the paper, Eric Roper of the Star Tribune might have done well to omit his name until a few sentences later. The most important bit of information is that the Minnesota Governor was third in the GOP's poll; complimentary information is that he was only one vote behind Romney.