Barack: “I Have a Gift, Harry”
A Great Speech Spoiled
In the paperback version of his memoir set to debut May 5th, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recalled a 2006 speech then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama gave on President George W. Bush and the two Wars on Terror. Sorry, I meant to say “Overseas Contingency Operation.” Like MSNBC’s no-balls ‘Hardball’ commentator Chris Matthews, Reid also experienced that tingle running up his leg sensation when the Illinois senator spoke.
Meeting with Obama after the liberal Sermon on the Mount-esque oration, Reid praised him, calling the speech ‘phenomenal.’ Obama, frequently skipping dessert when offered humble pie, told the Nevada senator “I have a gift, Harry.” But does he? Or is he hopelessly dependent on the teleprompter?
Let’s recall Alaskan governor Sarah Palin’s Republican National Convention speech when the teleprompter broke midway. Without skipping a beat, Palin ad-libbed most of her speech and spoke mostly from memory because the teleprompter was frequently many lines behind her. Not to steal a line from Governor Palin, but do you know the difference between a good Obama speech and a bad one? A teleprompter!
