Probably the biggest criticism I hear about Obama (aside from lack of experience) is that he's a great speaker but his words are empty, i.e. no one seems to know what he'll actually do. Many people believe(d) that he was the least substantive of the "Big 3". Although I would point out that many people started saying that Edwards needed to talk about other topics and actions rather than just broadly talking about the middle class/poor/special interests, etc.
The irony there is that regardless of what you think of Edwards, he was often the first major candidate that actually came out with *detailed* policy proposals, and Hillary and Obama (not always in that order) followed his lead.
Ok, so why did so many people (outside of DU at least) think he didn't have much thought behind his populist message? The answer is critical and it might be the same reason that Obama takes so much heat for supposedly being more style than substance.
Think about it for a second, does the average American spend a lot of time breaking down or even expressing interest in policy proposals?
We all know the answer, and it's a big NO. They couldn't care less. They're too busy eating Big Macs and watching American Idol (to be fair, a lot of them are also busy working and raising families, but even that doesn't excuse the near TOTAL lack of public knowledge).
It's people like us (sadly, a small minority relatively speaking) who pay attention to that stuff, and the candidates know it. I mean come on, look at our *current* president. Do you recall him breaking down detailed policy? The (huge) difference is that you KNOW Obama is 1,000 times smarter, more competent and intellectually curious than that dope.
With that said, does anyone actually expect to get tons of substantive, detailed information about what Obama plans to do just by watching debates or listening to speeches? I know, I know, maybe we'd like to see *more* from him in those areas, but why make such a big deal out of it?
I suggest reading the various articles breaking down his proposals, and at the very least, skim what he *claims* he plans to do to bring about the change he so often speaks about by reading his BluePrint For Change.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/We shouldn't pass by what *might* be a great president just because he doesn't put us to sleep with details during his amazing speeches. And hey, you might look into his plans and think they aren't very good (hopefully those who hate Obama read this *before* they respond but we'll see). But at least you'll have gone beyond the generic claim that he's "all style" in order to disagree with his substance.
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