Such a gifted orator! He obviously has such a firm command of the facts!
Lord knows I love mocking Obama’s inarticulateness when unguided by a teleprompter as much as anyone what with personally having invented the meme and all, but there’s a serious point here. In Richard Ben Cramer’s seminal book on the 1988 presidential election, What It Takes, there’s a compelling scene where Bob Dole gives a speech from a prepared text rather than winging it off the cuff as was his wont. For what it’s worth, Dole did a helluva lot better speaking that way than Obama does. Dole had a mind like a steel-trap and an amazing memory for details, two things that Obama will likely not be accused of any time soon. There was a reason why Dole made the change to a prepared text. After his victory in Iowa, Dole knew the world was watching his every utterance. He used notes because Gorbachev was watching. Dole knew the stakes had changed after winning Iowa. When will Obama come to a similar realization and at least go through the bother of making it look like he knows what he’s talking about? It’s not in America’s best interests that one of the two finalists for the presidency is indifferent to coming across as in-over-his-head and not-ready-for-primetime For anyone out there who thinks such things don’t matter unless George W. Bush is doing the talking, answer me this: Can you imagine Tony Blair ever appearing so tongue-tied and blasé about basic facts in public? HT: Allah
