Maureen Dowd, who certainly knows something about "tumbling hair and tumbling thoughts," fantasizes about Obama having what Palin naturally radiates - a "visceral power," an unexplainable energy, and an "aliveness." Dowd speaks approvingly of these Palin qualities and appears deeply disappointed in the Age of Obama. Yet, she's afraid to embrace her inner Palin. Here's the money quote:
"If we could see a Reduced Shakespeare summary of Obama’s presidency so far, it would read:
Dither, dither, speech. Foreign trip, bow, reassure. Seminar, summit. Shoot a jump shot with the guys, throw out the first pitch in mom jeans. Compromise, concede, close the deal. Dither, dither, water down, news conference.
It’s time for the president to reinvent this formula and convey a more three-dimensional person.
Palin can be stupefyingly simplistic, but she seems dynamic. Obama is impressively complex but he seems static."
Obama as "static" - certainly yes; Dowd and I agree on that one. But is Dowd's "impressively complex" comment itself meant to invoke a positive quality? No, not when it comes to those to whom we look to for leadership. In any event, if this is the best Dowd can raise in defense of Obama - and the worst that she can muster against Palin - then the Age of Obama may well be careening into a wall.
Instapunit has more here with this painfully true observation:
"I think Obama’s “charisma” was based on voter narcissism — people excited not just about electing a black President, but about themselves, voting for a black President. Now that’s over, and they’re stuck just with him, and emptied of their own narcissism there’s not much there to fill out the suit."
Prof Althouse's satiric take-down is here:
"You know, I think what Obama seems to have become, he always was. Shake him all you want, Maureen, but you're like some Star Trek extra (in tights and a tunic) trying to coax heat out of the body of Mr. Spock. I'm afraid these earnest efforts are futile."
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