Obama’s Roanoke Comments: Revealing or Just a Gaffe?

For the last week, the audio and video have been run and re-run a zillion times, and will be run another zillion times before the election in November. And, Obama’s words have been analyzed ad nauseum by the left and the right.

The right believes the Roanoke statements offered an insight into Obama’s political soul; the left, that the statement were simply a gaffe, taken out of context for political purposes.

I believe Obama’s statements are a little of both. That said, what is the history of Obama’s more notable and revealing statements and/or gaffes?

Prior to the election, there was the ‘Joe the Plumber/spread the wealth’ comment, likely an inadvertent reflection of Obama’s actual beliefs. And, the ‘bitter clingers’ remarks, captured on audio tape at a fundraiser in California where Obama never thought his statements would be made public.

Neither had any appreciable impact on the outcome of the election, but became forerunners of the current Roanoke debate.

There were the ‘57 states’ and ‘corpseman’ snafus. And, two weeks ago, Obama misspoke again, confusing paralegals and paramedics. In and of themselves, these mistakes are rather meaningless, but what’s causing them?

In June, Obama uttered the famous-for-a-week ‘the economy is doing just fine’ statement. The comment was extemporaneous.

And, of course, Obama made his now famous statements in Roanoke.

Therefore, if you assume Obama’s radical leftist beliefs lurk just below the surface, why and how do they periodically escape? And why does Obama come out with his nonsensical brain burps? I propose several possibilities.

First, the statements didn’t really ‘escape’ at all; Obama intentionally made the statements in the attempt to appeal to and solidify support from the far-left. Perhaps there was a mistake in judgment to make the statements, but the content therein was deliberate.

Second, and seriously, Obama has done so many private fundraising events where he throws out highly partisan rhetoric; could he actually confuse his fundraising stump speech with that designed for public consumption? And, as Karl Rove speculates, have Obama’s handlers exhausted him with the hundreds of fundraisers?

Third, a lack of skill. Obama’s oratorical skills are limited to delivering prepared statements via the teleprompter. He does not have the ability to effectively communicate extemporaneously or in a one-on-one dialog, particularly if challenged. Obama simply does not do well off script.

Fourth, Obama’s ego overrides his judgment; he reverts to his community organizing roots. Surrounded by adoring supporters, he can’t imagine why everyone wouldn’t share the crowd’s enthusiasm for his leftist agenda. Obama just can’t help himself.

Lastly, and influencing the other explanations above, Obama is simply not the intellectual giant others have been led to believe.