THE ONLY MEMORABLE STUFF HIS STAFF SPENDS THE NEXT WEEK EXPLAINING AWAY:

Speech critics assess Obama's oratory (AP, 1/24/10)

[E]ven admirers have a hard time remembering what he actually says.

Ted Widmer, who edited an anthology of political speeches for the Library of America, praised President Obama for his "masterful" style, but could not cite a specific line the president said. Similar observations were made by Jeff Shesol, David Frum and Harry C. McPherson, who wrote speeches for presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Lyndon Johnson, respectively.

"The speech he made in Cairo — I remember the intelligence, the breadth and the reasonableness," McPherson says. "But I can't tell you — and this is one of the shortcomings of the kind of speech he makes — I can't quote anything, or cite anything, off the top of my head."

C'mon, even his fanboys have to recall this classic: "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother..."

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 25, 2010 6:29 AM