Our Great Orator?

The Great Orator has transformed before our eyes into the Great Ordinary.
The man whose words caused him to soar above a thousand clouds has crashed down to Earth — just in time for his second launch.

The One — the man they claimed had the golden gift of gab — was reduced to nothing more than an echo of his 2004 Democratic National Committee speech, to Elizabeth Warren’s “No one made it on their own” speech and a slogan, “An America Built to Last,” that sounded as if it was ripped from a 1960s Ford commercial.

And the man President Barack Obama was thought to be was forgotten, crushed by the “pragmatism” of Washington.

In a shocking moment of truth, Herman Cain actually said something sensible Tuesday night. As he put it, the President’s State of the Union was a “hodgepodge of little ideas” lacking any sort of bold, brave innovation.

For a man who hated the Clintons and everything they stood for, his Mark Penn-approved, microtargeting checklist ought to cause a hard look in the mirror.

Plea for the Hispanic vote with immigration reform and the Just a Dream Act? Check.

Plea for the college vote by blowing hot-air about tuition increases? Check.

Plea for the bitter people vote by getting tough on China and harking the Detroit bailout? Check.

It’s no wonder that not a single signature phrase — no Great Society, Square Deal or even an Axis of Evil — is associated with Obama’s presidency.

If such a smart man has been forced into this position all the while banging his tin cup, why would anyone want to go into politics?

The visionary who wanted high-speed trains included in the stimulus has become the administrator clearing away the red tape for construction.

And the man who was going to bring post-partisanship to Washington has become the defender of Democratic values with a sword of fairness.

Of course, this all comes down to the Obama circle’s belief that, in the end, it is narrative story and not substance that wins in politics.

And, God willing, if Obama wins a second term, that will truly be a story to tell.

­— sidfletc@indiana.edu