Obama on Meet The Press

The transcript is here. I watched it yesterday and was left with my impression that Barack Obama is not ready for primetime completely intact. His biggest asset is that he is a smooth talker. He can talk and converse in a way that is not threatening, not shrill, not whining, just a pleasant conversational tone that leaves you with the idea that here is a really nice smart sane politician for a change.The bad news is that the talking is Obama's only asset. When you dig into the actual substance, you find very little there. Ann Althouse has a harsh but common critique:

He won't make even the gentlest criticism. Is he waiting for everyone else to do that or for her to fail on her own - a la Dean in '04 - and then to waltz into the opening John Kerry-style? Is he running for Vice President? Or is there no strategy at all, just a guy with no fight in him?

Here's an example from the section on Social Security:

MR. RUSSERT: But in May you said they would be on the table.

SEN. OBAMA: Well, when I-I am going to be listening to any ideas that are presented, but I think that the best way to approach this is to adjust the cap on the payroll tax so that people like myself are paying a little bit more and the people who are in need are protected. That is the option that I will be pushing forward. But, look, even as president I'm not going to be able to get this done by myself, and that means that I'm going to be listening to any other ideas out there. It doesn't mean, though, that I'm not going to have a strong position on it.

MR. RUSSERT: But they would be on the table?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I will listen to all arguments and the best options, finding out what is it going to take to close that gap. But what I'm going to continue to insist on is that the reason we need to fix it now is precisely to protect our senior citizens and maintain not only Social Security as a social insurance program, but also make sure that the benefits are sufficient so that we don't have seniors in need.

He wants to say that all options are on the table, because that's what a politician with integrity would say, and also it would draw a sharp distinction from Hillary. But he can't say that he would ever reduce benefits because that's a political land mine. What to do? Have it both ways! Declare in the same breath that he would listen to all options, but assure everyone that he would only choose the "best option" which he already knows.

Another example is the perfect section where Tim Russert compares Obama of Saturday night: SEN. OBAMA: I am sick and tired of Democrats thinking that the only way to look tough on national security is by talking and acting and voting like George Bush Republicans.

And gives Obama another chance to explain to everyone who he is talking about, but Obama chickens out with a long answer that mentions Hillary Clinton only obliquely:

Well, look, we know that too many Democrats, I believe, went along with George Bush when it came to the war in Iraq. In fact, of all the major candidates, I'm the only one who, in 2002, opposed the war in Iraq. I am concerned about the latest moves that the administration has been making with respect to Iran. And when, for example, Senator Clinton supported the Kyl-Lieberman amendment that suggests that we should structure our forces in Iraq with an eye toward blunting the influence of Iran in that country, that is, I think, a wrong message, not only to the world but also to the region, where we should be pursuing direct diplomacy. And so, on a series of issues, what I believe is that the Democrats have not stood forcefully against George Bush, they have not been clear about what an alternative foreign policy strategy would be, and, unless we present as a party a different vision about how we would approach national security, how we'd approach battling terrorism, I think that we are going to make ourselves vulnerable in the fall, and, more importantly, we're going to be doing a disservice to the American people.

Bah. Despite all of HIllary Clinton's vulnerability real or supposed, this is how I know that she will be the Democratic candidate in November. She has no competition.