Trying To Shake The Teleprompter Monkey

Some of the gaffes have been almost painful to watch:



This from the American Spectator on Obama's problem:

According to several Democrat political consultants presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama spent part of his Hawaiian vacation working on weaning himself from a heavy dependence on teleprompters. Even in what are staged as "town hall" events for Obama, remarks are scripted or formatted into bullet points that scroll on teleprompter screens. Obama has had several embarrassing events where the teleprompter either malfunctioned or the screens were not fully visible.

"He just locks down and can't get the words out," says one political consultant. "For such a fine speaker, it's really quite remarkable that he's had issues."

Obama's troubles with unscripted moments contributed to his campaign's refusal to participate in town hall format debates or discussions with Sen. John McCain, who feels much more comfortable in the unscripted moments.

It really is a pity that John McCain is not opening every speach pointing to Obama's refusal to engage in any town hall debates, including the one sponsered by military families. The U.S. deserves to see Obama unscripted to get a feel for just how well he will do without a teleprompter before we send him off to meet with the axis of lunch guests.