As for Obama… Good rhetoric is important, but real ideas are, I think, more so. Not necessarily specific policies — those depend hugely on circumstance and a lot of data you probably can’t crunch on the campaign trail — but evidence that you’re thinking about things rather than spouting empty sound-bites. I would rather have an intelligent, thoughtful, and committed person with no firm policies than someone who agreed exactly with what I thought ought to be done but didn’t have the intellectual framework to branch out. The former, I could trust to govern; there’s a reason I’m not running for president. Someone else could do a better job. Well, and also I’m too young.

I was marvelling today about the fact that we date our independence to the notarization of a speech act. Not a battle or surrender, not even the day a government formed–just the signing of a piece of well-written rhetoric and argument!! Kind of makes me think we need to shift arguments made against those who “talk big but don’t have any real ideas” (Obama et al.), because the real danger is not having the authority to make those words matter.