Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan turns a beautiful insightful phrase – and is impossibly grand. She also knows a thing or two about public speaking:

An example of the power of plain words:

In late 1996 the writer Tom Wolfe made a speech in New York in which, according to a Talk of the Town piece in the New Yorker, he raised doubts about the spirit and assumptions of modern science. He quoted Nietzsche and questioned whether science would not ultimately destroy its own foundations.

As Wolfe summed up his argument, reporter Jay Fieden wrote, "Wolfe’s voice dropped to a stage whisper; ‘Suddenly I had a picture in my mind of the whole fantastic modern edifice collapsing and man suddenly dropping — stricken! — into the primordial ooze. And he’s there floundering around, and he’s treading ooze and wondering what’s going to become of himself. And suddenly something huge and smooth swims underneath him and boosts him up. He can’t see it! He doesn’t know what it is! But he’s very much impressed. And he gives it a name: God.’"

This is the right stuff. You could never, in an audience, not listen to this, not hear it. Its driving-forward rhythm communicates the speaker’s excitement. You can also see it in the swiftness of his imagery — edifice collapsing, man dropping, force lifting. But for me the power of Wolfe’s style is seen in two simple words: huge and smooth…

So when Ms Noonan came out endorsing candidate B Obama for US President it was a big deal.

How things have moved on:

But—and forgive me, because what I’m about to say is rude—has anyone noticed how boring he is? Plonking platitude after plonking platitude.

To see Mr. Obama on the stump is to see a man at the podium who’s constantly dribbling away the punch line. He looks pleasant but lacks joy; he’s cool but lacks vigor. A lot of what he says could have been said by a president 12 or 20 years ago, little is anchored to the moment.

As he makes his points he often seems distracted, as if he’s holding a private conversation in his head, noticing crowd size, for instance, and wishing the front row would start fainting again, like they used to.

I listen to him closely and find myself daydreaming: This is the best-tailored president since JFK. His suits, shirts and ties are beautifully cut from fine material.

This is an elegant man. But I shouldn’t be thinking about that, I should be thinking about what a powerful case he’s making for his leadership. I’m not because he’s not.

Ouch.

The more so for being so true. Can anyone out there quote from memory a single sharp line or new insight from any of Obama’s multitudinous speeches since he became President?