Deciphering Obama

[Bullet1987]

I've read around that a lot of people don't like Obama's "umms" and pauses...well there's a reason for that. Obama is an incredible thoughtful person, and he's like me. He tends to think faster than he can talk...so what happens is you get a lot of pauses in between words because his mind is trying to process everything he's thinking. It's not so much that he doesn't know WHAT to say though...

I also think the only thing he did wrong was to not jump on Hillary when he got the chances. But he didn't LOSE and ultimately that's all that matters.

[JI7]

1. personally i think it shows he has depth and looks Presidential

[Extend a Hand]

2. I hadn't even noticed that he used a lot of uummms

The primary reason that I am not supporting Obama as my first choice candidate in the primary is that I believe he shares the trait that made Bill Clinton great and (I believe in a round about way) lead to his problems. He is always willing to compromise with the opposition to try to come to some sort of win-win solution. In a different time I might even find that a desirable characteristic, but after six years of Bush and cabal, I no longer have the stomach for compromise. I want a leader that repair the damage done by bush and not worry one whit about a republican thinks.

[Captain_Nemo]

3. If you have to decipher a candidate - he's not ready.

Obama tries to please too many people. Hillary doesn't try to please everyone - hell, she just came right out and called herself a feminist. Would Obama define himself as such? I don't think so.

[Bullet1987]

4. I could just as easily post a Deciphering Hillary or Edwards thread too

It's just a word I chose...lol.

[Captain_Nemo]

16. But, you didn't. You chose to defend a candidate who is clearly not ready. LOL

[Colobo]

5. Typical Hillarite talking point: "Obama is not ready".

[Captain_Nemo]

14. He's not. The stakes are too high: global warming, war. The president has to be able to solve

these problems. One needs experience. Personally, I can't stomach another president who says "folks" and talks about God. Please.

[Ethelk2044]

23. Wrong Hillary is the one jumping all over the board

trying to say any and everything to get elected. We do not need her we need someone who actually cares.

[Captain_Nemo]

24. ouch....I'll stick with the candidate who has a record on rights for children, women and environment

[illinoisprogressive]

6. he talks like most extreemly intellegent people do. pauses.

[Captain_Nemo]

15. Bush pauses too.

[Bucky]

7. This is exactly where Obama loses

If you compare the Umms and Ahhs that John Kennedy made when he was speaking off the cuff, Kennedy utterly trounces Obama in the verbalized pauses count. If you look at old JFK press conference footage and start counting his Errs and Ahhs and Well-uhs, it gets to be downright annoying.

The science of candidate telegenics has advanced considerably in the last 45 years since Kennedy last needed to use it. Even idjits like Bush can be trained by modern techniques to smooth out their oral presentations. In Obama his verbalized pauses reveal a dreadful lack of superficiality.

[Colobo]

8. But isn't it good that the man is a thoughtful individual?

[nerddem]

13. yep

i believe what bucky was getting at is that substantive candidates don't always do well. look at al gore, if that election was purely based on intellect, he would have trounced bush.

[Bitwit1234]

9. Well pausing and hmmmm is better than

most talkers with YOU KNOW. Blah blah blah YOU KNOW YOU KNOW YOU KNOW YOU KNOW. I get so sick and tired of that it freaks me out. Some of the people who "you know-- you know " all over the place are people who face the press every day.....

[TheDonkey]

10. We can't defend Obama's "ums"

of course there are FAR worse things but he's just got to get more comfortable in debates, period. I have faith he will and he did better this debate than the first. He IS very new to all of this.

[quinnox]

11. It was better the first hour

then he got worse in the second part. He does need to work on that.

[lvx35]

12. HE was voted most popular.

certainly because of his umms and pauses. He looked like he wasn't slick or tricky, but he had the mainstream cred. He will be in the Whitehouse, either as pres or VP.

[Captain_Nemo]

17. For the sake of our country (or what's left of it) I hope not.

[Colobo]

18. Obama is what the country needs.

[Captain_Nemo]

19. Personally, I don't think he has the stuff the lead in climate change. + the God" stuff unnerves me

[Colobo]

20. Why Hillary?

[Captain_Nemo]

22. Her record on climate change legislation is great. She is a feminist. We need a feminist more than

ever right now. I see the problems we are facing: climate change, pre-emptive war, poverty, as being problems that have been allowed to develop becasue of an imbalance in our government. Clearly, we have had administrations that are not too eager to leave a better planet behind. Nor have they been dedicated to wiping out poverty (root cause of terorism).
All this posturing, this "cowboy attitude" towards the world. Treating the earth like an enemy (trashing it).

It's time to break the deadlock.

When Pelosi became Speaker a professor was interviewed in the LA Times. She said that this moment (Pelosi's Speakership) was a momentous time for women. It was bigger than what people were perceiving. She said "The power of the mirror is huge."

Women have not had a "mirror" in government in the USA. (Maybe small mirrors: Congresswoman Martha Griffiths who was instrumental in legislation outlawing sex discrimination in employment. There have been other brief shining stars.
We need a big star now. I can only imagine what it will be like to women and girls to have her as a president. I like what I can imagine.
Hillary puts children first. What a great symbol for people to rally behind in order to motivate them to save our planet.

Thank you for asking. I don't mean to trash Obama - he's a good man. But, I hear so much trashing of Hillary and so little of her background in rights for women and children - I feel I have to fight back.

Barack's clinging to traditional male language (religious language) disturbs me. How much change can you clearly initiate when your language is stuck in male dominance?

In my opinion, not much.

At any rate, either of them is better than what we have. May the best Dem win.

[Colobo]

25. We need a woman in the WH. True. We also need a black person there. It's about time.

[Captain_Nemo]

26. Given the male domination of our country - we need the woman. A feminist. Experience.

[mckeown1128]

28. Some may argue that Obama is a feminist too!!!

He is a champion of women's rights.

[Captain_Nemo]

29. Yes, his voting record is great! HE has not come out as a feminist, though. Feminism is

a philosophy that not only sees equality between the sexes but it goes into solving problems like poverty, violence. This is a uniquely feminist perspective (putting poverty and violence - and even violence against the earth) together as something that needs to be solved through a remapping, if you will, of the system.
I think a female president shows the image, the picture to women , that they are powerful and can solve these problems that are so pressing.
Let's take global warming: a problem that threatens all of our lives. Yet, just today on NPR two congresspeople threw a major monkey wrench into some powerful climate change legislation-(Dingle (D) and a rep from Virginia (coal mining country).
Pelosi was stunned - they had slipped it in at the past minute.
If we had a true leader in the WH this might not have happened. Because we need a true leader to raise conciousness to say things like:"Without the earth we cannot live." This needs to be drilled into people.
There is no room for negotiation. There is no room for mistakes.
I think a self proclaimed feminist is the way to go.
Just my opinion.

[calteacherguy]

21. That's what makes him the greatest orator of all the candidates. nt

[Adelante]

27. I don't ever notice it

Until there's a post about it. It doesn't trouble me at all.