September 28, 2008


Obama and the Uh’s, Ah’s, and Ummm’s

Filed under: 2008
By Hunter Baker (Email) @ 9:02 pm

Much has been made by some conservative pundits about Obama being teleprompter dependent and how he racks up the speech pauses when he goes off the cuff. One might recall Rush Limbaugh compiling just the “uh’s” in an Obama appearance for comedic effect or Hugh Hewitt wondering how many of the awkward pauses he would accumulate during the first debate.

I don’t think the issue is that Obama is ‘prompter dependent or that he is inarticulate off the cuff. I followed him closely during the Democratic primary season and found him smooth whether working from prepared remarks or not.

The reason he has begun to seem halting is simple. Obama runs effortlessly to the left because that is his comfort zone. When he can give the “workers of the world unite” rhetoric and promote his reasons for dovish foreign policy, he is at home, talking to his people about what they all believe. That’s why he was so good in the primaries.

But in the general, he faces a different problem. He can’t roll the same way. He has to think carefully about what he says because all kinds of Americans are paying attention. Those pauses are necessary because the wheels do need to turn. He HAS to find the nuance in order to avoid appearing radical.

Just a little note to the moderates . . .


4 Responses to “Obama and the Uh’s, Ah’s, and Ummm’s”

  1. Joe says:

    Or as they say, it is much harder to lie than tell the truth.

  2. [...] in, a strong America and American heritage. Obama has difficulty standing up for the American way. Southern Appeal [...]

  3. Fireduck says:

    The era of big gubment and big regulation is back, and the Republicans have no one to thank but themselves. Oh, and the Democrats should wipe that smug grin off of their faces, because they are equally to blame. Fineman is correct. Both Congress and the Administration has ignored the cries of “foul!” from the public, and is pushing through the single largest and most disgusting example of government largesse this country has ever seen. Makes me want to move to a more open, rational country. Like China.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26933982/

  4. The MSM seems to like to capture all of the regionalisms that Gov. Palin uses but seems oblivious to all the senator’s less than formal speech patterns. Hmmmm. Wonder why?

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