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While I agree with Dan Hoyle's conclusion in his article, "What small-town America is saying about Obama", that a very small percentage of rural and small town Americans will vote against Obama purely because he's "black", indeed sometimes not black enough, I think it's Obama's apparent lack of passion about everything, that makes him seem to some elitist and to others phony.
Obama, as smart as he clearly is, seems to have been negatively affected by his legal education to the extreme point that even when he is refuting false and negative assertions about himself, his experience or even his family, he appears so dispassionate that his response or argumnent often seems like an instance of gamemanship or simply a mental exercise intended to win the argument with words alone. As a result many Americans, accustomed to the "outrage" displayed by Republicans at anyone with a different point of view, are suspicious of his arguments that appear purely intellectual, lacking conviction and passion. As a result the arguments are unconvincing and raise undefined suspicions..
I firmly believe that Obama's message and policies are refreshingly direct and honest after 8 years of the mendacious Bush and company, but without passion and conviction , they will not convince voters who are trying to decide between personality and policy in this crucial Presidential election.
