It's the Teleprompter's Fault

Townhall.com ^ | August 30, 2011 | Bill Tatro

[Kaslin]

The man is eloquent and that’s what his supporters continue to believe.

He’s very expressive in the way he makes decisions and especially articulate in the way he conveys his ideas to the public.

That’s right; I’m referring to Barack Obama.

Since he came out of nowhere, I have marveled at the way the he could mesmerize a crowd. He said it was time for hope and change and it seemed everyone agreed.

If you were a displaced worker who saw your job sent overseas, then Obama was talking to you.

If you were a single parent at odds with creditors and just trying to survive, then he was speaking to you. Or, if you happened to be a small business owner struggling to stay afloat, Obama focused his words to you.

It was a general message with no specifics, but it was so eloquent the words seem to roll off the man’s tongue and even brought a tear to the eye.

Then, I looked closer…Obama never looked at the television camera. In a large room full of people, he never focused on those in the center, only looking to the left and then to the right.

After a while, I saw the Obama struggle when asked off the cuff questions. He stumbled when he did not have a prepared speech, once claiming there are 57 states in the union.

It was then I realized the eloquence his supporters so warmly embraced was just a good old fashioned reading of the teleprompter.

Whether it was in a manufacturing plant or an elementary school, Obama was never without his trusty device. That’s probably why his most recent appointment of Alan Krueger (the Tim Geithner clone), is another result of not looking ahead.

Once again, Obama is simply looking to his left and to his right, pandering to one side and thumbing at the other. Instead of admitting he has failed economically and that a new approach is sorely needed, Obama simply brings in another in the long line of Keynesians who specialize in failed policies and botched ideas.

In order to sell this same old same old to the American public in September, he will have to be more eloquent than ever, and that means making sure the teleprompter is clean, well lit, and running very smoothly.

Then it’s left, right, left, right, but never looking ahead.

Unfortunately, until we elect a President who looks straight ahead and faces the tough issues head on, our grave economy will continue its dreary non-eloquent side-to-side direction.

[ErnBatavia]

[andy58-in-nh]

How many techniques are there that are used to manipulate individuals and groups of people?

Just the one I'm using now. ;-)

[andy58-in-nh]

All kidding aside: any practiced stage magician knows how to manipulate a crowd by using misdirection, voice control, momentum, expectation, eye contact... all manner of things to get you to see something that's not really there, or to miss something that is. Some politicians become very adept at such techniques.

Frankly, Obama's not all that great, technically-speaking, especially absent his TOTUS. What he does have is a fawning media and an experienced political operation whose directors understand the power of presentation. Think of the background imagery for all his speeches: same colors, same font, always. The stage's design elements are always symmetrical. His clothes: dark suit, with a complementary single-color tie. And of course: The Logo, incorporated wherever and whenever possible.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I’m more interested in content of the speech of which there is none than all the superficial crap.

[andy58-in-nh]

“Make no mistake: as I’ve said before, time and again, the system is broken. We must seize this opportunity for winning the future. So, let me be clear: change is coming, because the status quo is unacceptable. There are those who say that we cannot ask the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share, but instead ask our children and grandchildren to sacrifice everything they have saved or created. That would be a return to the failed policies of the past. Just like the previous Administration, they offer not one dime to restore our reputation or to invest in essential services, green jobs or shovel-ready projects. Although we have come back from the brink, from the worst economy since the Great Depression that I inherited, we still have more work to do to bring hope and change to America’s working families.”

[Nevadan]

thanks!