what barack needs to learn from bill

A powerful moment from the president's town hall yesterday:

 

One of Ben Smith's readers makes a very sharp point about Obama's difficulty in connecting with voters on the economy. Remember Bill Clinton's famous "I feel your pain"?* Compare and contrast with Obama's version:

I understand your frustration.

That pretty much sums up the problem. One of Obama's strengths is that he's an adaptable, flexible politician, as we saw during the campaign. But he doesn't seem to be able to change the way he talks about the economy, and about voters'...pain. He sounds reasonable, but reason isn't enough; the prose needs to be mixed with poetry. Seriously, he should take a class with Clinton.

I also think that a shake-up of his advisers can't come soon enough. The White House seems stuck.

*Actually it's difficult to source this exact phrase; but it crystallises what we know about BC's ability to connect with people.