Experts Say Obama Needs To Be Passionate And Persuasive
Every president has moments that are thought to be critical turning points in his time in office.
President Barack Obama's next one officially arrives tomorrow evening when he addresses the nation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point about the new strategy he's chosen for the war in Afghanistan.
There aren't likely to be many surprises. It's been widely reported that Obama plans to send 35,000 or so additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan and that he's going to give at least some sense of what he sees as the "exit strategy", the measure of success and the reasons he believes the U.S. must take the actions he's ordering.
But the address will be watched and analyzed closely, by pundits today and historians tomorrow. All Things Considered co-host Michele Norris talked with two experts today about what Obama needs to say and how he needs to say it.
From the Democratic side of the aisle, former Clinton administration foreign policy adviser Wendy Sherman said she thinks Obama will show the nation that he has "taken his time to ask every question that the American public might ask and (made) sure he has gotten the answers":
Michael Gerson, a speechwriter in the George W. Bush White House, said Obama will also have to show some passion. "He's going to have to convey, through his words and the tone of his language, that he is as firm a war time leader as any war time leader we've had in our history":
Much more from Michele's conversations with Sherman and Gerson are due on today's edition of ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
Reinforcements are coming. Dario Lopez-Mills/AP hide caption
Reinforcements are coming.
Dario Lopez-Mills/AP