Politics | Barack Obama Eloquence Can, in Fact, Be Presidential Those dismissing Obama's speaking skills miss a key point of the role of a president By Kevin Spak Posted May 16, 2008 4:17 PM CDT Copied Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., looks downward as he is introduced at a campaign event at Thorngate Ltd., in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Tuesday, May 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) It’s a bit weird to defend something like eloquence, but that’s just the task to which the primary season has inspired Calvin Trillin, writing in the Los Angeles Times. Rivals and pundits alike dismiss Barack Obama’s eloquence as some kind of liability, whereas Trillin sees in the Democrat's ability a key component of the role of president. Hillary Clinton often trots out Mario Cuomo's nugget “You campaign in poetry and govern in prose.” But, Trillin writes of the president, "It's part of his job to comfort the American people in times of distress or inspire them to sacrifice for the greater good"—and this ability can yield as much political capital as Eisenhower's war heroism or JFK's charm. Read These Next Multiple people are dead or missing after an explosion in Tennessee. It started with failure to say 'thank you,' ended with murder. Freak accident kills a woman as she cleans her car. 'Paper millionaires' are having a moment. Report an error