Obama a subpar communicator?

John Podhoretz had this to say about Obama's debate performances so far:

Barack Obama gave a memorable speech performance in 2004 and many people I trust tell me that in private he is sensationally smart and inspiring. But this is the fourth debate I've seen him in and I just don't think there's any question he's extremely unimpressive in this format — his speech is halting, he says very little that's substantive, he uses corny soundbite phrases. It's actually hard to believe he's one of the two leading contenders in the Democratic party. Being a good performer in these debates doesn't mean very much, I agree, but I think Obama has been hurt a bit by these events because he's supposed to be a glorious communicator and thus far, as a presidential candidate, he just isn't.

I would have to agree with this. It's the expectations game--Obama started out so hot, it's impossible to keep up with his own image.

For every downside, there's an upside, of course. A friend told me that talk radio this morning was making fun of Mike Gravel, when he said in the debate that he took the train to the debate, because of course he would like to take a private jet like all the rest of them, but just doesn't have the money. I had the same reaction to Gravel's "follow the money" line in the debate--he'd love to take lots of large contributions if he could! He can't, so he's running his campaign blasting the monied interests. For every downside, there's an upside, and vice versa.

So the upside for Obama is that he might seem more down-to-earth. If he's halting in his speech, it is not the Bill-Clinton-esque raining 100+ word sentences with perfect syntax down on your head type performance, but it might also make him seem more like a regular guy. I've posted recently about Obama's style, and how it might be a positive that he doesn't seem like a polished sell-out candidate. (As my friend put it, Kucinich says all the things Hillary wants to say, but can't.)

On the video I've posted, Obama talks about how his wife says "Who's this Barack Obama I hear so much about? I'd sure like to meet him," which is a funny way to distance himself from his image and become more down to earth. You can be effective politically without being a smooth operator when it comes to loquacity. Barack should push this style difference to his advantage. You sell the image by making people forget it's just an image. With Hillary, we can't forget, as Jay Cost rightly put it.