In recent months, conservative criticisms of Barack Obama have become fairly predictable. He’s “too liberal”; his 12 years in elected office make him “too inexperienced”; his opposition to the Bush administration foreign policy makes him “too weak”; etc.
What I didn’t expect was to see the right take on Obama over his ability to give a good speech. Indeed, I thought the conservative line was, “Sure, he’s a brilliant orator, but that’s irrelevant.”
Today, however, the Weekly Standard’s Dean Barnett spends 1,400 words insisting that without a teleprompter, Obama’s rhetorical skills are laid bare. He is, Barnett argued, a “markedly inferior speaker.”
Yes, Obama can turn a phrase better and do more with a Teleprompter than any other modern era politician. But does his special skill set here actually mean anything, or is it instead the political equivalent of a dog walking on its hind legs — unusual and riveting, but not especially significant? Regardless, the liberal commentators have gushed their praise nearly every time Obama has opened his mouth before a Teleprompter the past few months
It was thus interesting to see Obama climb to the stage at Virginia’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Saturday night. As he strode to the podium, Obama clutched in his hands a pile of 3 by 5 index cards. The index cards meant only one thing — no Teleprompter.
Shorn of his Teleprompter, we saw a different Obama. His delivery was halting and unsure. He looked down at his obviously copious notes every few seconds throughout the speech. Unlike the typical Obama oration where the words flow with unparalleled fluidity, he stumbled over his phrasing repeatedly. […]
With no Teleprompter signaling the prepared text, Obama failed to deliver the speech in his characteristically flawless fashion. He had to rely on notes. And his memory. And he improvised…. The results weren’t just interesting because they revealed Obama as a markedly inferior speaker without the Teleprompter.
ABC News’ Jake Tapper, whose work has been increasingly disappointing of late, highlighted Barnett’s piece, and suggests that Obama’s skills without a teleprompter “could be a real vulnerability.”
I haven’t the foggiest idea what these people are talking about.
Of all the things to criticize Obama on, his ability to communicate well should probably be at the very bottom of the list of conservative talking points.
When Obama gives a speech at a campaign rally, he’s not using a teleprompter, and from what I hear, the audience still seems pretty impressed. When Obama hosts town-hall meetings, there’s no teleprompter, and based on recent elections results, he still does a pretty effective job of connecting with voters.
But you know what? Let’s just skip the analysis and cut to the chase. Here’s the speech Obama gave at Virginia’s J-J Dinner over the weekend:
Some of this is subjective, of course. Different people can listen to the same speech and come to very different conclusions.
So, go ahead and take a look. Was his delivery “halting and unsure”? Did he “repeatedly” stumble? Did he come across as a “markedly inferior speaker”?
Not as far as I can tell.