Oratorical prowess

I continue to find myself bemused by the Clintons' characterization of Obama as being someone who can make great speeches but otherwise has no substance. Exactly what are they basing these claims on?

A couple of posts on the subject from my favorite guys at The Atlantic...

Matthew Yglesias has this to say:

... it's not as if Hillary Clinton doesn't give speeches. Giving speeches is part of being a presidential candidate. Indeed, it's also part of being president. And, again, both candidates deliver speeches. So it would seem that Clinton is accusing Obama of giving speeches well.

... the fact that he's a better orator just doesn't count as evidence for the inferiority of his proposals.

And Andrew Sullivan adds:

... because Obama actually inspires with oratory, they also assume he doesn't have substance. The premise is that you cannot be inspiring and detailed at the same time. Two words: Why not?

What people fail to understand is that in politics, words are also substance. The ability to inspire people is not inherently a dangerous phenomenon. It is sometimes critical to effective governance. Conservatives used to understand this. Perhaps Churchill's greatest actual weapon was the English language. It did things no bureaucrat, soldier, armament, or policy could do. The core of Ronald Reagan's success was his rhetorical ability to reach over the heads of the Washington process to the people who can force Washington to change: the American people. And I don't recall conservatives decrying the rhetoric of hope reacting to George W. Bush's inspired speeches after 9/11.

Both posts go on to talk about the fact that Obama does, in fact, have quite specific proposals on a wide range of issues. (Check his website.)

And, for the record, I voted for Bill Clinton in '92 (in fact, I took a day off from work to get out the vote for him on election day) almost entirely based on a speech he gave. I knew little about his experience, and what I later learned about his tenure as Governor of Arkansas would have been unlikely to sway me.

And some links to past speeches:

• Andrew Sullivan's collection (mostly from 2007, including both concrete proposals and details on his overall worldview)
• Speaking 2/9 in Virginia
• His South Carolina victory speech
• His Potomac Primary victory speech

SOME NYT ARTICLES ON THE CAMPAIGN that are worth a read:

• Clinton's campaign knocked off stride (2/14)
• Obama's new opportunity to state his case (2/13)
• Obama's jobs program speech (2/14)
• The Times political blog notes a variety of campaign developments (2/14)