Obama McCain – Form vs. Substance

One thing you have to give Senator Obama, he can put on a show. He knows what sunglasses to where with a flak jacket. He knows just the right moments to lose the baby blue tie and roll up his sleeves, and shoot some hoops. He can address thousands of adoring fans, and whip them into a frenzy. He can do all this without addressing any issues. He can fix the world just don’t ask him how.
On the other hand, Senator McCain is not the most gifted speaker to ever run for president. It sort of looks like someone is chasing him when he reads from a teleprompter. He doesn’t look like a J. Crew model, he looks like someone you might run into at the hardware store. However, ask him a policy question anywhere anytime and he’ll give you a thoughtful honest response.

The media seems somewhat baffled that McCain has been closing in on Obama’s lead. No pretty pictures come out of the McCain campaign. He’s talking to folks in restaurants, in grocery stores, and in town halls across America. How could that possibly be more appealing than Senator Obama’s stage show. Screaming fans, massive crowds, the media eating from the palm of his hand, but no ‘world tour bounce’ for Senator Obama.

Substantively, what did come out this week is that Senator McCain was right about the surge. He made a solid foreign policy decision that could have hurt him politically, and the country is better off for it. Could voters possibly be choosing substance over form? Could the media’s crush on Obama be so obvious that voters disregard their glowing reviews of him? Could the fact that Senator Obama doesn’t answer questions, be starting to backfire? Could ‘hope’ and ‘change’ be wearing thin for people paying $4.00 a gallon at the pump? This race could possibly come down to whether voters choose the candidate of substance or choose the candidate of show.

Hype the Obama Effect - the movie