Obama and the Conservatives

Apparently a lot of people were impressed with Obama's speech on race this week. Oh, not those such as the folks at National Review Online who were on the whole snarly and disgruntled about the whole thing, but certainly more thoughtful conservatives like, of all people, Peggy Noonan*. While she is not in general in favor of Obama, she realizes that he actually gave a speech that expected people to think on their own. Here's a taste of her reaction:

The primary rhetorical virtue of the speech can be found in two words, endemic and Faulkner. Endemic is the kind of word political consultants don't let politicians use because 72% of Americans don't understand it. This lowest-common-denominator thinking, based on dizzy polling, has long degraded American discourse. When Obama said Mr. Wright wrongly encouraged "a view that sees white racism as endemic," everyone understood. Because they're not, actually, stupid. As for Faulkner -- well, this was an American politician quoting William Faulkner: "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." This is a thought, an interesting one, which means most current politicians would never share it.

The speech assumed the audience was intelligent. This was a compliment, and I suspect was received as a gift.

It was also refreshing in its rarity. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, let's all hope this becomes a trend.



*yes, I know. I can't believe I wrote this either, but she is beginning to grow on my.


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