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Obama's Press Conference Speech Repetitive, Combative..but Credible?

CNN's Wolf Blitzer introduced Barack Obama's live televised press conference last night with reference to an Irish saying that he thought applied to Obama. It says that "the definition of charm is the ability to elicit the answer yes before you've even started asking the question".

Given Obama's rooster-reminiscent swaggering performance shortly thereafter, the remark struck me as particularly apt.

The suave and articulate Obama has demonstrated the ability to elicit positive results from his audience by merely smiling and saying "Yes we can". I think one of his aides needs to point out to him that that's okay for election time, but he has now won and needs to adopt a less grandiose format of elocution - especially for budgetary press conferences.

Barack Obama squandered yet more political capital last night in what increasingly appears to be a conviction that he is his own party's greatest asset. As long as the pre-written and teleprompted/memorized remarks are smoothly and generously flowing, he could be right.

But take away the teleprompter, and Obama's glibness quickly deteriorates into unimpressive humming and hah-ing as he continuously leans on a select few pet phrases and slogans deployed in acknowledgement of the power of repetition. And he repeats himself. He answered thirteen questions, selecting journalists from the seating plan at his elbow.

What was impressive was the fact that nearly every response to every question contained a recitation of his key budget platforms, which were investment in job creation, education, health care, green energy, and infrastructure.

He opened the conference with cautionary statements aimed at deflating expectations for rapid resolution to America's woes.

"Its important to remember that this crisis didn't happen overnight, and it didn't result from any one action or decision. It took many years and many failures to lead us here. It will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, there are no silver bullets," he said.

In an apparent disconnect from reality, he appeared committed to the idea that more credit extended to businesses and consumers was the most reliable factor in restoring jobs and consumer health. The fact that abundant credit was the undoing of small businesses and consumers seemed to have escaped the attention of most of the journalists gathered at his feet.

The rest of the opening remarks consisted of sweeping generalizations that are best summed up as vague.

"We will continue to do whatever is necessary in the weeks ahead to ensure the banks Americans depend on have the money they need to lend even if the economy gets worse."

He saved the best for last though.

"Finally, the most critical part of our strategy is to ensure that we do not return to an economic cycle of bubble and bust in this country. We know that an economy built on reckless speculation, inflated home prices and maxed out credit cards does not create lasting wealth. It creates the illusion of prosperity and its endangered us all. The budget I submitted to congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation, so we don't face another crisis like this ten or twenty years from now. We invest in renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs and less dependence on foreign oil. We invest in our teachers and schools so that our children have the skills they need to compete with any workers in the world.

We invest in reform that will bring down the cost of healthcare for families businesses and our government. And in this budget we have to make the tough choices necessary to cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term. Even under the most pessimistic estimates."

Then, after encouraging the nation to borrow and spend, a contradiction.

"At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run,, is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led us to a narrow prosperity and massive debt. Its with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest."

The 13 questions he did answer were disappointing in their absence of incisiveness. Several of the journalists asked questions completely unrelated to the issue of the budget and the economy, which lent an air of amateur fantasy to the whole spectacle.

At one point, Obama got a little testy when a journalist pressed him for reasons as to why it took him two days to express his outrage at the AIG bonuses. Obama snapped, "It took a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak." He then quickly took a question from a different journalist.

Barack Obama's focus on elocution and image are starting to undermine his credibility - particularly on issues economic. By articulating broad and general schemes, he leaves un-touched the opportunity to act decisively, and that makes him look weak. Lets hope he's got the humility to listen to his critics, and the integrity to learn from his mistakes.

SOURCE: http://www.midasletter.com/commentary/090325-1_Obamas-press-conference-remarks-repetetive-combative-credible.php


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