This, again, is not a blog or post about politics, per se. It’s about public speaking. There are other places to debate policy and ideology.

So, that being said, to be slightly cynical about all this, however, I still don’t think this health care issue lends itself to great speeches. He called on our national “character” and “decency” (right?). Those, while noble, just don’t seem catchy enough, and don’t have enough sizzle to really energize his position in a way that is truly effective. And his opponents can just fire right back with the exact same phrases, sound alarm bells, and return everyone back to policy minutiae, just wrapped in anti-government rhetoric. Opponents are able to make the Obama’s solution seem much scarier than the problem.

These health care speeches are so different from speeches about wars or elections (for example). From a purely practical standpoint, I still think it might be more effective to really frame the issue as a crisis, an emergency to be addressed, rather than a issue that will illuminate our national character and morality. There’s no urgency for much of society, it seems, even though something must clearly be done. I doubt most people want the Obama health care bill to pass so they can feel like better Americans. They want it to pass because it brings changes to a broken system, one that will eventually collapse upon itself, and this collapse will cause most people significant pain and suffering – financially and medically, to their businesses and communities, friends and family.

But it’s kind of like telling a chain smoker to quit – it’s usually not going to work until they’ve received the bad news that the cancer is terminal and the damage has already been done. And even then….

And that was the SECOND big speech he gave this week! Big week for public speaking!!