Literature Review Practice – “And Obama Wept”

The article And Obama Wept, posted by a senior national correspondence of the NBC News, which deals with the presidential campaign of a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, criticizing excessive enthusiasm of his supporters and lack of policies in his campaign, has brought the heated debates among bloggers. These opinions can be roughly divided into two categories: one agrees to the article, and the other doesn’t. In other words, one is for Obama, and the other against him.

Some bloggers agree with the article writer in that Obama’s campaign lacks the concreteness. According to them, instead of specific topics, his speeches are full of rhetorical words making people blind. Sarah, for example, claims that “disguising his lack of policies, plans and execution abilities by attributing it to lack of hope is a classic cult tactic to shame non-coverts.” Moreover Dynasty, warns of the danger of those rhetoric, saying that “one of the most influential speakers of the 20th century, a man who could mobilize and convince people of his charm and rhetoric, was none other than Adolf Hitler, and we all know what followed suit after his regime took over. And in my opinion that is what I see happening to America today, a man who is talking about a "change," a change that I not been able to locate.”

On the other hand, some bloggers claim that the fact he doesn’t talk about specific issues does not necessarily mean the lack of policies. Rather, it is a policy to win more votes. According to DAW, those kind of speeches are “much more effective when they are inspiring rather than policy heavy,” and ThinkingARV insists that “if he talks about the issues in a dry calculated way, he could never garner the support,” adding he “cannot afford to be a policy wonk.” Another neutral supporter of Obama, named Williams, suggests the bloggers go to the candidates’ websites because “the substance is there,” before arguing the existence substance.