WHEN THE TRUTH IS WORSE THAN A LIE:

A Consistent Yet Elusive Nominee (JODI KANTOR, August 28, 2008, IHT)

DENVER — From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, Senator Barack Obama’s aides have heard the same mantra. He repeated it after debates and appearances, after victories and defeats. “I need to get better,” he would say.

In the way Mr. Obama has trained himself for competition, he can sometimes seem as much athlete as politician. Even before he entered public life, he began honing not only his political skills, but also his mental and emotional ones. He developed a self-discipline so complete, friends and aides say, that he has established dominion over not only what he does but also how he feels. He does not easily exult, despair or anger: to do so would be an indulgence, a distraction from his goals. Instead, they say, he separates himself from the moment and assesses.

“He doesn’t inhale,” said David Axelrod, his chief strategist.

But with Barack Hussein Obama officially becoming the Democratic presidential nominee on Wednesday night, some of the same qualities that have him just one election away from the White House — his virtuosity, his seriousness, his ability to inspire, his seeming immunity from the strains that afflict others — may be among his biggest obstacles to getting there.

There is little about him that feels spontaneous or unpolished, and even after two books, thousands of campaign events and countless hours on television, many Americans say they do not feel they know him.

When Bill Clinton said he didn't inhale you knew he was lying, but it was like when your little brother got busted doing something and alibied up. The Unicorn Rider is so contrived that you'd believe him, but there's a price to be paid in politics for that level of artificiality.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 28, 2008 7:53 AM