Did you ever notice . . .

[Brigid]

That Obama does better, and is more forceful, when he gets out of Washington and into the rest of the country, as he has been doing lately? Reverend Al just made this excellent point.

[Fuzz]

1. Yes, but unfortunately he works in DC and that's where that force is needed.

[Poll_Blind]

2. I dunno, he certainly makes more forceful speeches. But what're speeches worth?

Case in point: Just a day or two ago, President Obama addressed the Congressional Black Caucus. While his speech was well-written and definitely well-executed down to the finest nuances of inflection (really), the message is still the same: We need more tax cuts for corporations in order to get the economy going again- according to him. This was in regards to hiring veterans, BTW. Now obviously the speech covered more ground than that, all told, but the moment he "went there" I kind of snapped out of the performance a little bit.

The show is nice. Obama usually doesn't disappoint and it's still not uncommon for him to raise the roof with these speeches of his. Problem is, though, the rhetoric has changed. It's not the platform the candidate ran on, it's (mostly) a whole new set of wheels. Driving in a different direction.

It's funny (to me) though, because the theatrical nature of these speeches still retains a harmonic of his firebrand Progressive candidacy, while an unpalatably-large amount of the actual rhetoric delivered is very close to the same bromide I used to roll my eyes about when Bush delivered it.

The problem is that so much of President Obama's solutions typically involve indirectly helping Americans by helping corporations directly. It's just another kind of trickle-down.

PB

[Raine]

3. Especially during campaign season nt

[Whisp]

4. that is the nature of politics, to campaign.

are you suggesting that Obama Not campaign, and leave that to the Repuglicans, because that is what I hear here a lot - that campaigning, espcially for Barack Obama, is something evil that is not necessary.

Did you feel the same way for Bill Clinton?

[Poll_Blind]

5. So far, I think you're the only one bringing that sort of nonsense into this thread.

:shrug:

PB

[Whisp]

7. a politician has to campaign to keep his seat or acquire a new one

what is nonsensical about that?

[Raine]

6. "Did I feel the same way for Clinton?" ... YES

What are you trying to imply?

[Whisp]

8. I'm just a bit flummoxed about why campaigning is so bad...

as it's just part of the structure.

fundraising as well. The nature of the beast of politics.

I'm not sure what you are implying, actually.