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Lend me your ears

I'm a sucker for US politics and a sucker for great speeches.

I think its too early to say that he should be elected - I'm looking for to seeing how he performs in a presidential campaign, should he get the chance - but I have to say that Barack Obama is possibly the most gifted public speaker I have seen in politics in my time.

I first saw him speak at the Democratic Convention in 2004, after reading an article on him in the Economist earlier in the year (unfortunately only viewable with a subscription!).  I was sitting in a hotel room in India preparing for the day and was lucky enough to catch it - listening to that speech made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

His Iowa speech is in a similar, rarified class.  Impressive ...

Posted by Steve on January 10, 2008 3:52 AM |

Comments (2)

Ginny Browne:

I'm old enough to remember the excitement when Kennedy hit the scene, and Obama reminds me of him - a lot!

Posted by Ginny Browne | January 11, 2008 8:36 PM

Posted on January 11, 2008 20:36

Steve Bealing:

Thanks Ginny. I know you're not alone! A lot of commentators and punters make the comparison, and Barack has leveraged it by invoking the language of Kennedy in his speeches. Kennedy arguably had more legislative experience than Obama - Obama is regularly criticised for not being able to back up soaring speeches with achievements. I'm wondering if you think that legislative experience gave Kennedy more credibility when he appealed to people's sense of idealism? Or is the experience argument a furphy?

Posted by Steve Bealing | January 12, 2008 6:30 AM

Posted on January 12, 2008 06:30

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