11 October 2012
What Debate?
President Obama failed to win his competition with Governor Romney on October 3, 2012, because he thought he really was engaged in a debate. He argued convincingly in the minds of his supporters that his three and a half years in the White House have seen progress in the achievement of some important social, economic and strategic goals—broadening health care insurance coverage, mitigating a devastating worldwide financial collapse, correcting an overblown military response to the stunning 9/11 attack. But in the minds of the national media and the critical undecided minority of the prospective electorate, he appeared unsure.
It mattered little whether Governor Romney was truthful and consistent about his own policies, or accurate about his facts. The important thing was that his presentation was persuasive. President Obama certainly can be persuasive, as he was in 2004 through 2008. Then, as now in the case of Governor Romney, he was telling us what we wanted to hear. We were afraid at the end of the Bush Administration that we had mistakenly handed control of the country’s destiny to a reckless group of true-believers. After four years of unaccustomed economic stall, nearly half the country is unwilling to believe that good old American gumption couldn’t have snapped us out of it.
President Obama needs to inspire admiration of his audacity in thinking that he can persist in pursuing his goals while overcoming a frustratingly slow economic recovery, not win debating points. Robert’s Rules of Order do not apply in this forum. Like the television entertainment industry, he must get the audience to come back for more.
President Obama failed to win his competition with Governor Romney on October 3, 2012, because he thought he really was engaged in a debate. He argued convincingly in the minds of his supporters that his three and a half years in the White House have seen progress in the achievement of some important social, economic and strategic goals—broadening health care insurance coverage, mitigating a devastating worldwide financial collapse, correcting an overblown military response to the stunning 9/11 attack. But in the minds of the national media and the critical undecided minority of the prospective electorate, he appeared unsure.
It mattered little whether Governor Romney was truthful and consistent about his own policies, or accurate about his facts. The important thing was that his presentation was persuasive. President Obama certainly can be persuasive, as he was in 2004 through 2008. Then, as now in the case of Governor Romney, he was telling us what we wanted to hear. We were afraid at the end of the Bush Administration that we had mistakenly handed control of the country’s destiny to a reckless group of true-believers. After four years of unaccustomed economic stall, nearly half the country is unwilling to believe that good old American gumption couldn’t have snapped us out of it.
President Obama needs to inspire admiration of his audacity in thinking that he can persist in pursuing his goals while overcoming a frustratingly slow economic recovery, not win debating points. Robert’s Rules of Order do not apply in this forum. Like the television entertainment industry, he must get the audience to come back for more.
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