On Being Presidential

Today, I decided who I am going to vote for.



As the primaries have churned along and the candidates have pandered and preached, I had been on the fence. And now that I have chosen, it disappoints me that, when it came down to it, it had nothing to do with policy.
Barack Obama took to the stage at Philadelphia's Constitution Center this morning to defend his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright and The Trinity Unity Church of Christ and I missed the beginning. (Full text of the speech can be read here).
But as I overheard the strains of his voice coming from the next room, my ears immediately perked up, as if my auditory cavities were subconsciously telling me "listen up, stupid! someone important is talking."
When the voice of a sitting president is heard, it is natural to have a reaction. After all, the man's words matter so much to our everyday lives and the airwaves are so saturated with it all the time that your ears become trained.
But this is the first time I have ever had this reaction with someone on a campaign. Obama's calm, stately voice made me believe I was already listening to a great world leader. And he hasn't even been elected yet.
The whole experience left me a touch nostalgic for a time long ago when flannel shirts were all the rage and our Lothario president was turning the Oval Office into swingers night at the Airport Ramada. But when he wasn't jamming it down the throat of interns, Clinton had quite the silver toungue. They didn't call him slick Willy for nothing. He could sell snow to the eskimos and make them believe it was for the good of the nation. But most importantly, when he spoke, America listened. America collectively perked up their ears and stopped what they were doing. He had the charisma and likability of a talk show host.
When Clinton was in office, I took these qualities for granted. I thought a bit of public speaking ability and charisma and charm came with the territory for any elected official.

And then we elected and re-elected George W. Bush.



A man who can't string ten words together without saying Nu-cue-ler. A man who has publicly mispronounced entire continents. I will never forget watching Dunce-Cap DubYah stumble through a speech to the U.N. asking for funding assistance for a war they tacitly forbade him from waging. When he opens his mouth on a world stage, I feel the room get stupider. And I am embarrassed to have him as my representative. It is a feeling comparable to hearing Pat Robertson speak for the opinions of all Christians by saying Katrina was a punishment for homosexuality. Even with his problems and his missteps, Clinton never embarassed me as an American. Hell, most other westernized nations already think we are a bunch of prudes anyway. If anything, he made us look cooler.
But even with all those qualities, Clinton's whole persona had kind of a comedy to it, a used-car-salesman sleaze that gave his words a taint, like a beautifully crafted lie. And that was when he was telling the truth.
Obama is no comedian. He has a drama, a heft to his orations that make you want to swallow everything he feeds you whole. And so far, the media has been hard pressed to find reasons we shouldn't.
This speech was a turning point for me and, I'm sure, for many others who are not sure who to vote for in this election. No longer can the media paint him as a man who has not been vetted. Even as the Clinton campaign tries their damnedest to derail him (pictures of him in a turban, talk of his pastor, Reverend Wright), the Obamanator stays stoic, tough and yet graceful.



Lincoln never could have amassed the Union army without this ability. Martin Luther King never could have convinced women to walk instead of taking the bus if he wasn't able to get people to shut up and listen. In an age where we are constantly saturated with schemes and plans and deals, hearing a politician speak can often sound like an infomercial. But when Obama talks, I listen. And that is no small thing.