Maybe He Isn't The Orator We Thought He Was
by James Glaser
December 14, 2010

Candidate Obama was pretty incredible. He could get a crowed to its feet yelling and cheering his every phrase. Of course that was then, and this is now. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time listening to President Obama give any sort of speech now.

Now a days, there is nothing in his words that inspires, but if you think about it, there is a simple explanation. During the Presidential campaign, candidate Obama would make the same speech day after day, sometimes for weeks. He had some set speeches for women, for unions, for African Americans, for liberals, and for independents. He kept giving the same speech over and over, and he had time to hone that speech to perfection.

If a joke line fell on deaf ears, it was taken out, and if another line got people applauding, it was expanded upon. Practice makes perfect, and people thought Barack Obama was the orator of the century.

Reality hit after he took office, when it became known that President Obama could not give a speech with out his teleprompters. You see, when you become President, most speeches are a one time affair. You might be talking about the economy one day and National Defense the next, but as things change, the speeches have to change also.

This weekend we saw what happens when President Obama has to speak without a speech writer or his teleprompter. Obama had an afternoon meeting with former President Bill Clinton about how to get the Democratic Party to fall in line with the renewal of the Bush tax cuts. It was decided the best thing to do was to talk to the press and explain why these tax cuts for the rich were really the only thing to do.

Well, they got the White House Press Corps together, and Obama bolted out of there. He said nothing except that his wife was in need of him. Obama walked away. If that seemed strange, just remember that there was not text to work from or a teleprompter to read from.

The President left the podium and the reporters to the real Democratic orator of the last 100 years, Bill Clinton, and Bill spoke very comfortably off the cuff like the true politician he is.

Barack Obama came on the scene of American politics and he sounded great, because the man can read a speech like not many can, but to get out and just talk about what he believes with no electronic help is a bit of a stretch for the man.

Ah, but don't worry, for come next election, he will have his canned tried and true campaign speeches to fall back on again, and people will jump up and shout and applaud, saying to each other, "Man, can that guy deliver a line or what? I think we know now that what Barcak Obama is delivering is a well-read line.

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