In a a very serious, thoughtful, argument that has never been made anywhere in such detail or with such care, John Dickerson pushes Barack Obama's vision for this country: A "common sense, non-ideological, practical-minded, generous agenda for change in this country." Well I sure would like that sort of politics in my country!
But putting out detailed white papers isn't the only way to show your substance. Obama likes to strut his policy stuff by playing the professor. After 10 years teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago and several before that running meetings as a community organizer, he's highly skilled at talking to an audience in a way that exposes his knowledge. He did this at the two health-care forums he moderated last week. I was at the first in Portsmouth, N.H., last week (the second was held in Iowa)....
Obama had clearly done his homework on this subject. He regularly offered facts: Two-thirds of the uninsured are employed; 20 percent to 30 percent of the $2 trillion spent annually on health care goes to paperwork and red tape. He occasionally referred to index cards to prompt the audience with questions about employer-based plans or their tolerance for possible tax increases. He appeared to be listening so intently that he neglected to laugh when one of the speakers made a joke.
Well, homework or not, the truth is that Obama said very little of substanceat his forums. And I don't know about you, but when I'm having a conversation with somebody and neglect to laugh when they say something funny, it's not because I'm "listening so intently" but that I'm not really listening at all. I know it's early in the campaign and there's plenty of time for policy. And yes, peoples' minds wander, even during town hall forums. But when we're evaluating candidates on objective measures, even this early on, we shouldn't make excuses for somebody who's lagging just because he seems vaguely like the reincarnation of Jesus.
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