Barack was boring
by Graham Davies

President Obama's announcement of his plans for the American Healthcare System was the worst presentational performance of his Presidency.

His main narrative speech was competent, but not inspired, by his standards. When he presents straight to a camera, as opposed to catering mainly for the live audience in front of him, he loses alot of his innate warmth. When he is talking to a piece of glass instead of a group of human beings, he becomes a little less human himself.

But his real weakness showed during the Q&A phase after his initial speech. Even though he clearly knew what the first question was going to be, he didn't provide a head-on answer. Instead, the Leader of the Free World simply rambled. On and on. Seemingly without an end in sight.

This pattern was repeated throughout the rest of the event. Ironically, when Obama is speaking to a crowd of 200,000, he can make it sound like conversational dialogue. But when he is answering a difficult question from one person, he indulges in uncomfortable monologue.

Admittedly, healthcare has perhaps been the most insoluble issue for every US President for the last 20 years.

But it is when the issues get tough that tough presenters should get going.