The New Yorker...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

"The exhaustingly, sometimes infuriatingly long campaign of 2008 (and 2007) has had at least one virtue: it has demonstrated that Obama’s intelligence and steady temperament are not just figments of the writer’s craft. He has made mistakes, to be sure. (His failure to accept McCain’s imaginative proposal for a series of unmediated joint appearances was among them.) But, on the whole, his campaign has been marked by patience, planning, discipline, organization, technological proficiency, and strategic astuteness. Obama has often looked two or three moves ahead, relatively impervious to the permanent hysteria of the hourly news cycle and the cable-news shouters. And when crisis has struck, as it did when the divisive antics of his ex-pastor threatened to bring down his campaign, he has proved equal to the moment, rescuing himself with a speech that not only drew the poison but also demonstrated a profound respect for the electorate. Although his opponents have tried to attack him as a man of “mere” words, Obama has returned eloquence to its essential place in American politics. The choice between experience and eloquence is a false one––something that Lincoln, out of office after a single term in Congress, proved in his own campaign of political and national renewal. Obama’s “mere” speeches on everything from the economy and foreign affairs to race have been at the center of his campaign and its success; if he wins, his eloquence will be central to his ability to govern."

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/13/081013taco_talk_editors

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Yup.

[maxsolomon]

2. i dispute this assertion:

"He has made mistakes, to be sure. (His failure to accept McCain’s imaginative proposal for a series of unmediated joint appearances was among them.)"

lakoff rule #1 is DON'T ACCEPT THE GOP FRAME. refusing to play the game on your opponent's preferred playing surface is not a mistake. and it's brought out the whiney baby in mcchickain. "if obama had just done my town halls, i wouldn't have to accuse him of teaching kindergartners about sodomy. waaaaaa, it's not fair he won't let me win!".

[EmeraldCityGrl]

3. Yes agreed, but the rest of the editorial was beautifully expressed.n/t