Amid a post about the Democratic Party and gun control, Jeff Soyer of Alphecca digresses on the subject of President Bush:

It would be SO WELCOME if he could just issue one speech the way Ronald Reagan used to, where he acknowledges the economic problems we (in America) are going through and offer us the Reagan optimism and encouragement needed to spur us on and get things going again. Yes, the markets aren't doing badly, but unemployment is a big problem and investment is still lethargic and we really need a vocal, eloquent "cheer-leader" rooting us on.

As I've stated before, Bush's lack of eloquence is not an indicator of stupidity -- we all know smart people who are fumblemouthed -- but it is a genuine shortcoming, an obstacle to effective leadership. Especially when it is necessary to take the country to war at a time when people simply aren't emotionally prepared for wartime, and dealing with a press whose skepticism often spills over into outright partisanship, persuasive public speaking is an indispensible political tool.

This is the real reason, I think, that the most successful politicians are lawyers: they are trained and experienced at making a strong case to a skeptical audience. (And actors: they are used to playing to an audience, telling a compelling story, and getting people to suspend their disbelief.)

That kind of politician -- the speechifier -- seems to have gone out of style, though. It's not just an affliction of the Bush family or the GOP, either: James Taranto at Best of the Web Today regularly lampoons how far Democratic Party rhetoric has fallen.

I wonder if this is a product of the pervasiveness of advertising: we are so used to be sold to -- and misled in the process -- that any presentation that is too smooth, too slick, or to emotional, immediately invokes our skepticism, and appears as obviously dishonest.

Still, one can listen to MLK's "I have a dream" speech, and be moved by it. The Gettysburg Address is as profound now as it ever was. There is still something in us that responds to lofty ideals, loftily expressed.

So why hasn't anyone since Mario Cuomo even bothered trying?