A bore, a boor, and a tour de force

We probably know Hillary Clinton too well for anything about her to come as a surprise. As Barack Obama takes his run at her, however, Obama remains something of an enigma. Despite his apparent intelligence, he has yet to say anything or (much of anything) smart.
Obama is roughly as boring as any county commissioner discussing the issues of the day. He holds himself out as the sunny alternative to politics as usual, but his persona is dour. He could and should be a happy warrior, but he is neither happy nor a warrior. He seems to be carrying some unexpressed grievance. Perhaps he senses the mood of the Democratic electorate and responds to it subliminally.
Bruce Bawer is a serious observer watching the presidential race from abroad. He is the author most recently of While Europe Slept. Bawer expresses the desire to support Obama, but has read Obama’s Dreams From My Father and is put off by it. In “Why I haven’t caught ‘Obama fever,'” Bawer writes:

As the title intimates, the figure in Obama

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