It’s too soon to tell, but I believe based on early evidence we’ve got a winner in “that one.” Getting out, being visible, and setting the tone are all essential. Like FDR who embraced the technology of radio for “fireside chats” and Kennedy who embraced the technology of television to bring more of the non-verbal communication into play, President-Elect Obama is embracing the internet to get his message out. Smart. Very smart.
Not to mention, it’s a pleasure to listen to him speak. Clearly someone who is capable of clearly articulating concepts in complete sentences without having to invent (or mangle) the language. I still can’t believe we’ll have a new empowered leader in a mere 65 days. What a blessing for our nation.
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One of the things I will enjoy not missing from these 8 dark years is the anti-intellectualism faction of the right now embodied only by the former Mayor of Wasilla. Or, as Dick Cavett put it so nicely in the NYT this week:
‘Could the willingness to crown one who seems to have no first language have anything to do with the oft-lamented fact that we seem to be alone among nations in having made the word “intellectual†an insult? (And yet…and yet…we did elect Obama. Surely not despite his brains.)
‘Sorry about all of the foregoing, as if you didn’t get enough of the lady every day in every medium but smoke signals.
‘I do not wish her ill. But I also don’t wish us ill. I hope she continues to find happiness in Alaska.
‘May I confess that upon first seeing her, I liked her looks? With the sound off, she presents a not uncomely frontal appearance.
‘But now, as the Brits say, “I’ll be glad to see the back of her.‒
(http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/the-wild-wordsmith-of-wasilla/)