 |
|
December 2, 2014
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
August 26, 2008
/ 25 Menachem-Av 5768
How permanent will Obama's bounce be?
By
Dick Morris & Eileen Mc Gann
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Everybody agrees that when Barack Obama finishes his historic outdoor acceptance speech on Thursday night and the 75,000 adoring fans in attendance finally quiet down, he will bounce up in the polls, likely to as much as a 10-point lead or even more.
Obama is at his best when delivering a telepromptered speech to a large and enthusiastic crowd. What would be a major task for some is just batting practice for this skilled orator. But how long will his bounce last?
To make it stay and not let McCain dissipate it with the Republican convention that will follow hard on the heels of the Democratic gathering, Obama needs to give a State of the Union speech, not a campaign speech, to his national television audience.
His trademark dialogue with his audience, in which they take turns repeating lines like "Yes we can" or "Not this time," works well on a sweaty primary night when Obama declares victory, but it won't be enough on Thursday night. His Berlin speaking style, threading the needle and walking the tightrope between policy options and broad principles with which no one can really disagree, will also lead to a quickly fading bounce. He may satiate his partisan audience, but he will not prevent the electorate from feeling a hunger for substance the next day.
Rather, Obama's model should be Al Gore's acceptance speech in 2000 or Bill Clinton's in 1996. Both were virtual State of the Union speeches, delivered to an audience rather than to Congress, but televised and just as widely seen. In those speeches, his predecessors canvassed each aspect of public policy and articulated a program or initiative to move it forward. Each topic got its paragraph, punctuated at the end with an applause line. Then came a transition sentence into the next topic. This rote formulation, repeated over and over, sounds boring to speechwriters and may lack the emotional eloquence for which Obama is famous, but the time has come for the Democratic candidate to answer the question being asked about him all over: in effect, where's the beef?
For his acceptance speech to carry him over through the week of the Republican convention and into the fall, it has to be a compendium of policy departures, outlining, in specifics, what he plans to do as president. He must lay out his future course plainly and in detail. Rhetorical flourishes will not serve as a replacement for hard proposals. To quote Obama, "Not this time!"
Television commentators may deplore the laundry list approach to such a speech, and his audience may find itself less moved or thrilled than usual, but he'll just have to disappoint the folks. America knows that Obama offers hope and change and fresh approaches. But we don't know what that means. We don't understand exactly where he will take us, and his recent flipping and flopping obscures whatever clarity we might once have had.
But now Obama can set us straight and give himself an enduring platform for the rest of his campaign. In the primaries, Hillary was the candidate of issues and Obama was the voice of hope. When Clinton was expounding upon the details of her healthcare plan, Obama was soaring in his rhetoric promoting change. That was good enough for the primaries. But it won't work in this speech. Can Obama do it? "Yes, he can." But will he?
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Dick Morris is author, most recently, of "Fleeced: How Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies ... Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.
Dick Morris Archives
© 2008, Dick Morris
| |
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|
