Althouse: "If you are a great orator ... and you don't use your skills to surprise people or stake out a position that's a little risky..."

September 23, 2008

"If you are a great orator ... and you don't use your skills to surprise people or stake out a position that's a little risky..."

"... and really do the work of convincing people that that's the right position -- if you take your great oratorical skills and just keep repeating 'I'm a uniter, not a divider,' plus several boilerplate predictions that are totally poll-driven -- you look like an empty suit!"

Said Bob Wright about Barack Obama, a couple months ago:

That clip is highlighted in Part 2 of Jac's "How Obama lost me," under the heading "As much as I hate to admit it, there's a lot of truth to the 'He's all about speeches, not ideas' critique," which is #7 on a to-be-continued list that now has 8 items. (Excellent items, in my view, which is biased, Jac being my son.)

UPDATE: Here's Part 3.

12 comments:

Peter V. Bella said...: "...or whatever the hell he's talking about; its all a con job."

That was priceless.; 9/23/08, 9:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Team Obama's mantra of how masterful an orator the anointed one is reminds me of the ugly, obese girls I see at the mall with t-shirts boasting "Angel" and "Hottie" on them. If I have to be told, then you're not.; 9/23/08, 9:39 AM
Albireo said...: Obama's vote against the confirmation of John Roberts is proof that he is not a uniter and has no real interest in a new type of politics. If he couldn't bring himself to cross the aisle and vote for a supremely qualified, albeit conservative, candidate, then what sort of difficult bipartisan compromises would he be willing to make?; 9/23/08, 9:55 AM
Anonymous said...: Exactly, Windbag.

I keep waiting for the Rock Star and the Great Orator because they keep saying he's coming.

I see a fairly good looking guy, kinda skinny, with a deep sonorous voice,framed by flattering camera angles. Saying...nothing in particular, over and over.; 9/23/08, 9:56 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Barack Obama has no mojo.

Hitchens nails it this week in Slate, Barack has a Dukakis quality to him. That is fine for certain jobs, but not President of the United States. That is why he cannot close the deal.

There are other reasons too. He is liberal and most of the country (the part you need to woo to win) is centrist conservative or moderate. Obama blinks and hesitates when events happen (now I know some say it is being careful, but in crisis it is often better to act and then reasess than not act).

In the Sixty Minutes interview, Barack after hesitating to answer why him as President, said he can find common ground in a group of people in a room who violently disagree. Now that may be a good set of skills for a labor negotiator or a mediator, but is it the best skill set for President of the United States?; 9/23/08, 10:08 AM
Anonymous said...: It won't do any good to wake up in a year or so. You have six weeks. This isn't a George Clooney movie.; 9/23/08, 10:11 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: We're the change we're looking for.

* lowers voice*

We're the change we're looking for.

Too reflexive?

* sets down mirror *

You know, maybe I should change that to "We're the change for which we've been waiting," to avoid, you know, the whole end-on-a-preposition thing. Nah. I'l just leave it.

Damn, I got good teeth.; 9/23/08, 10:46 AM
chuck b. said...: Some people who would not normally be charmed by charismatic speakers (ministers, the CEO, a salesman), open themselves up for broad, sentimental manipulations when the speaker is a politician. It's weird.

I don't know how Obama's made it this far except to guess that some people want to be manipulated.; 9/23/08, 12:03 PM
Cedarford said...: A goog portion of the public chooses a candidate by using what is in their heart, not using what is in their brain.

That is how you get Obama, Fundies "hearting Huckabee, Bush".

Females choosing Edwards on looks and silky hair.

Part of what disgusts the glabally admired Lee Kwan Yew (PM-mentor, Singapore) about the US political system, in saying the authoritarian capitalist system is better. Yields better leaders, allows a country not to lurch from crisis to crisis, where gridlock is only broken in reactive urgency.

No way would Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower ever won American elections in modern times.; 9/23/08, 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm about as fundamentalist as it gets, and I despise Huckabee. Romney's Mormon faith didn't deter this reborn fundy from supporting his candidacy. Bush is a disgrace, starting with McCain/Feingold.

Human nature is predictable, but not always on an individual basis.; 9/23/08, 4:49 PM
Nagarajan Sivakumar said...: i dont understand one thing though - does JAC think that Obama is some how going to change or something ?

he's pouring his heart out about Obama's inadequacies/mistakes/faults - heck he has gutsily admitted that without his oratory, Obama would not be where he is today.

And finally he is going to vote for him ? What's the point ?

It would be better if he also has atleast one post explaining why with all his faults Obama IS STILL the better choice as opposed to McCain.

As a McCain supporter i would like to hear his thoughts.; 9/23/08, 7:28 PM
veni vidi vici said...: By the look of that picture, one is free to wonder whether Wright has been so long without a shower that his skin is corroding into a putrid filth.

Seriously, WTF?; 9/23/08, 8:17 PM