Why Hope Matters, Vol. 1

In the progression of Barack Obama from the Illinois Senate to the United States Senate, and from there to his successful bid to become the President of the United States, one common criticism continues to eek out of the minds mouths and hearts of the cynics.It appears that there is a fairly large body of folk who are perpetually frustrated with Obama’s wordsmithery. That his ability to write and speak well must somehow be indirectly proportional to his ability to fulfill the duties to which we the people elected him. I do believe there to be present a certain degree of irony present in that these same naysayers are largely consistent in the votes they cast in 2000 as well as 2004, for a goodhearted, but absolutely inept candidate, the now former president, George W. Bush. Is there any correlation that this fella, who consistently proved he couldn’t string together words and thoughts, could no more fulfill the duties of the office of President in such a manner to be remembered as worthy of the support, loyalty and trust of millions who chose him as their commander in chief?Or…If Bush = not so good talker = not so good leaderThen Obama = real good talker = real good leaderPerhaps Clinton is responsible for this. Maybe in his two terms, this broadly intelligent and well-spoken politician has sullied the hearts of Americans in a way that puts those who have command of word and thought in a light to be judged as a chief manipulator, liar, cheat, swindler, etc.It could easily be argued that Clinton, with his early on accessibility as a sax-totin’ cool dude from down south, and his warm, easy way to persuade not just the ladies, but pretty much anyone at which aimed his charisma, was in spades, “SLICK WILLY.” You can love him, but DON’T TRUST HIM.But Obama is a man of letters, as they say. He’ll easily pack auditoriums, amphitheatres and stadiums for decades beyond his exit from the Oval Office in early 2017. And that’s largely in part that the man has something to say and knows how to say it. He’s surrounded himself with other thinker-writers like Jon Favreau, David Axelrod, David Plouffe TK TK. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/books/19read.html?8bu&emc=bub2