Barack Obama has a well-earned reputation for rhetorical skills that have John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ronald Reagan nodding in admiration from Above. He speaks with the rhythm and passion of a preacher; his rallies look more like tent revivals, his supporters swooning like bobby-soxers over Sinatra.
Last night, as the magnitude of his victory in Wisconsin became clear, he spoke in Houston as he begins to rally voters for the Texas primary on March 4. He began to speak around 9:50pm Eastern Time. Ten o’clock, he was still speaking. 10:15pm, he was still speaking. 10:25, he was still speaking. 10:30, he began wrapping it up. In 45 minutes, he didn’t say anything new. There was only line after line we’ve heard a million times before: how he went to the car companies over fuel efficiency and the room was quiet, how he’s going to confiscate corporations’ profits, how mortified he is that a geneologist found he’s related to Dick Cheney, how John McCain is a bonafide war hero, but….., how “change” is coming. Yes, we can!
When you hear this stuff the first time, even the second time, you get carried away by his fluid oratory. For the past year, he’s been mesmerizing to watch, because we haven’t seen such a Natural since Bill grabbed the mic in 1992.
But the more you see of Obama, the more you hear the stump speech, the more you really listen to him, you realize two things:
1. His wispy notion of change isn’t linked to anything except socialist policies he’s dressing prettily in rhetorical gauze.
And 2. He tends to drone on. When you dip into one of these speeches and listen for a moment or two, he blows you away. When you stay for the whole thing and really listen, you realize the emperor doesn’t have many clothes.
Hillary Clinton is no speaker. She’s no Natural. And she doesn’t have his “O”mentum. But she has one final shot to expose the man behind the curtain. He’s not the Great and Powerful Oz. He’s a politician with some major weaknesses.
The Clintons have always managed the clock to their advantage. Can they do it this time? The sand is rushing through the hourglass.
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