Indifferent Obama
by Graham Davies

When he has enough time to prepare and practise, Barack Obama is one of the world's great political presenters. But his statement responding to North Korea's nuclear test showed how unprofessional he is when he has to speak at short notice.

It was clearly a sequence of words drafted in a hurry by a State Department official. It was full of predictable phrasing ("we will re-double our efforts...") and even more predictable sentiments (when was the last time that you heard of international sanctions successfully persuading a dictator to change his ways?)

But the words were positively brilliant compared to the way that they were delivered. Actually, they were just read out....in a bland, quiet and emotionally detached way that suggested Barrack has been inspired by the Speaker's recent performances (see recent blogs).


He fell into the old politician's stilted technique of only saying words in groups of 3 or 4 at a time...mainly because he was reading them for the first time just as he was saying them. He has also developed an annoying habit of lifting his voice up or down right at the end of a sentence, like an over-chatty Australian who always sounds like he is asking questions.

Part of Obama's charm is his sheer presentational transparency. Sadly, that also means that it is very obvious when he is saying merely adequate words that have just been put into his mouth by someone else.