The Obama "all words, no substance" meme

[Wetzelbill]

That is soooooo tired. I'm not an Obama voter. (or an HRC one, for that matter) But honestly, I keep hearing people in the media saying he needs to get specific etc etc. Obama gives great speeches, people go wild for the guy when he gets up and speaks. He doesn't go off on wonky details, because, frankly, that would be stupid of him to do so. Nobody would ever listen to that except for, I don't know political nerds like most of us or people in the media who are paid to listen to that shit, but who always seem to piss and moan about how John Kerry or Al Gore or how Hillary etc etc sound like robots when they drone on about policy.

These same people in the media spent years reveling in the Bush "a guy I'd like to have a beer with" or the McCain as a "Maverick straight talker" personas, while ripping Dems for being all wonky and "too intelligent." And the same regular people I hear now saying Obama is just words, well, many of them were Bush supporters, and nobody has ever been a man of less substance than Bush. Or if you want to go further look at the Republicans in Congress. You want to talk about empty words, what about "Moral values" or "Family values" or some other slogan that sounds good but doesn't even really mean anything? Where have the Republicans been on health care all these years? What do they offer in the way of economics, besides a disastrous and failed ideology that consists of little more than giving away tax cuts to the wealthy and demonizing government all the time?

If you go to Obama's website, he has plenty of specifics for the policies he wants to implement. Yeah, maybe I don't agree with every single thing the guy wants to do, but he doesn't lack detail. He isn't all just words. It's ridiculous to say so.

But it makes me sick to see Dems get painted a certain way all the time. We get McCain the "war hero straight-talker", and now we'll either have Obama the "inexperienced, pretty words, no substance neophyte" or Hillary the "cold-hearted robot woman who has no feelings and is a horrible, godawful CLINTON."

And the tone and vitriol around here against both candidates isn't any better. I know one thing, I'd take either Barack or Hillary over John McCain on his best day, a million times over.

[BearSquirrel2]

1. How about a "Hillary can't speak Extemporaneously" riff ...

On super Tuesday, she came out and read a speech woodenly. Barack came out and spoke eloquently extemporaneously.

Whatever your message is, as a Democrat you have to deliver it well. They will not cover up for your gaffes like they did for George W Bush. You need to think on your feet and get your message out.

Of course, if your message is coming from within you as opposed to from your immediate circle of political calculation, this is easier to do.

[Wetzelbill]

2. yeah I guess

Somehow Bush can go out and act like a freaking moron, and that's completely passable. Hillary acts like a regular person would act and they go nuts. It's not easy to speak in front of people, I've done it, I actually like it, but not many people have a great skill for it. Obama is awesome in front of a crowd. So was Bill Clinton, and John Edwards is good too. Hillary isn't really like that. She's ok, but she isn't the type of person who is going to go out and work a crowd like an expert entertainer. Nor is McCain. He's not Obama with a mike either. He gives speeches when he sounds old, and completely uninspiring, he's like the anti-hope, anti-change candidate. Yet somehow HRC is wooden? It's insane. She does well, I like listening to her speeches. I like listening to her talk. Hell, months ago, when she was the anointed frontrunner everybody in the media kept saying how she sounded so "responsible" and how she won most of the debates etc. Now she's wooden. Go figure.

[BearSquirrel2]

6. She sounds rehearsed

Hillary has a "faux" personality when speaking. She falls into patterns. They're not monotonous like those of McCain, but I find little difference between her and the "old" Al Gore.

O'Bama has the ability to speak naturally and communicate wonderfully. He may prepare very well. But his rehearsal clearly is not grooving him into that "high school" speech mode.

I speak in front of people everyday. I am more of an "off the cuff" guy which sometimes goes great, and sometimes I probably sound like Dan Quayle. No doubt you get better as you go along.

[hiaasenrocks]

3. There's also a "meme" meme.

[Wetzelbill]

4. you just blew my mind....

Like some Jedi Mind shit or something.

[pstans]

5. I attended many events in Iowa

Obama would get very specific when he was asked questions. Clinton on the other hand only brushed over the main points at the couple events I saw her at.

[rodeodance]

7. NYT: --this is NEWS!! Obama Adding Detail to His Oratory

Forum Name General Discussion: Primaries
Topic subject Obama Adding Detail to His Oratory
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4635933#4635933
4635933, Obama Adding Detail to His Oratory
Posted by babylonsister on Sun Feb-17-08 08:41 PM

Obama Adding Detail to His Oratory
Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

Barack Obama, shown at a rally Saturday in Wisconsin, is injecting more specifics into speeches.

By JEFF ZELENY
Published: February 17, 2008


EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — If he does say so himself, Senator Barack Obama delivers a fine political speech.

“Don’t be fooled by this talk about speeches versus solutions,” Mr. Obama told a crowd of Wisconsin voters. “It’s true, I give a good speech. What do I do? Nothing wrong with that.”

To that confident strain of self-assessment, the audience roared with approval.

A shrug of the shoulders and a few deadpanned retorts, some of which stop just shy of mocking his rival, is the latest approach Mr. Obama has taken to respond to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s criticism that his words offer more poetry than substance.

Yet as he traveled across Wisconsin last week, Mr. Obama seemed to have let loose a little more of his inner-wonk, which his strategists had once urged him to keep on the shelf.

Even as he was dismissing Mrs. Clinton’s criticism, he appeared to be taking it at least mildly to heart — a suggestion that as a line of attack, she might be on to something.

Suddenly, he was injecting a few more specifics into his campaign speeches. Giant rallies that had sustained his candidacy through a coast-to-coast series of contests on Feb. 5, notable for their rhetorical flourishes and big applause lines, were supplemented with policy speeches and town-hall-style meetings, complete with the question-and-answer sessions he abandoned as he roared out of Iowa and into New Hampshire. (In hindsight, he conceded as he reviewed a defeat to Mrs. Clinton, that was a mistake.)

By every indication, this was not a random change in the Obama style. The senator decided to clue in his audience to the shift on a recent morning in Janesville, Wis., where he presented an economic proposal to create seven million jobs over the next decade.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/us/politics/17obama.html?em&ex=1203397200&en=e698d6284630976f&ei=5087%0A