Nov 26, 2008 10:31 pm US/Central
Truth In Politics: Is Optimism Important?
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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President-elect Barack Obama announces his economic team during a press conference in Chicago,IL on November 24, 2008
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
In Wednesday's Truth in Politics has the president-elect lost some of his Barack Obama "bounce?" Some close observers say he's become more somber and less upbeat. It may be a reaction to the serious challenges he now faces. But as CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports one expert says Obama's ability to project a confident optimism is one of his secret political weapons.
Even opponents praised the power of Obama's speech-making. As president-elect and not yet president his tone is different in the face of serious economic challenges.
"Right now our economy is trapped in a vicious cycle," Obama said. "The turmoil on Wall Street means a new round of belt-tightening for families and businesses on Main Street."
"I think the danger that he faced was perhaps of inflating expectations about how quickly things could be done or how dramatically things could change, and I think that's why he's felt it necessary to give more of a tone of realism," said Northwestern University's Prof. David Zarefsky.
Zarefsky studies presidential communications.
"I think it's a growing recognition that the issues he's got to deal with immediately are much more severe than he thought," Zarefsky said.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his historic speech.
For all his eloquence, historians say FDR made a terrible mistake by waiting until that inaugural speech to address the crisis he faced: 25 percent unemployment and a catastrophic banking collapse.
"Obama's not waiting until he gets inaugurated which is what I think he initially wanted to do," Zarefsky said.
"At this moment, we need to restore both confidence in the markets and restore confidence of middle class families," Obama said.
Experts say confidence can be contagious - and bolstered by a leader who takes charge, lays out a plan and can demonstrate soon enough that it's starting to work. Ultimately Barack Obama is going to need more than eloquence. In four years, voters will want to feel better off than they are now.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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