Obama's Empty Chair/Empty Stadium Speech

Empty promises, recycled rhetoric, dishonest straw man arguments. All the hallmarks of the empty chair speeches that have become hallmarks of Obama'a failed presidency!

Clint Eastwood gave his first interview since appearing at the GOP Convention in Tampa to his local newspaper in Carmel, California. In it he described how the idea of the empty chair came to him only moments before he was to go out and address the Convention. It turns out that what appeared as a rather bizarre device at the time has captured the attention of the nation as the perfect metaphor to describe Obama's failed presidency.

Democrats canceled Obama's big speech at the Bank of America stadium, claiming the risk of inclement weather, but admitted off the record that it was because they knew they couldn't fill the stadium. Thousands of empty seats when Obama spoke would have sent the wrong message. Instead, an empty stadium with tens of thousands of empty seats is the perfect description of Obama's speech.

An empty stadium for an empty speech!

There were no balloons at the end of Obama's big speech. But with all the hot air they would likely have floated to the roof. The speech was typical Obama. Loaded with emotional buzz phrases and short on specifics. The few promises he did make were recycled from his 2008 campaign only this time with goals that were less than those he originally promised 4 years ago. To those watching it must have occurred that since he failed to achieve his original goal, why should they believe he will succeed now?

Liberal columnist Michael Tomasky summed Obama's speech up this way:

Let’s be blunt. Barack Obama gave a dull and pedestrian speech tonight, with nary an interesting thematic device, policy detail, or even one turn of phrase.
...
This was the rhetorical equivalent, forgive the football metaphor, of running out the clock: Obama clearly thinks he’s ahead and just doesn’t need to make mistakes. But when football teams do that, it often turns out to be the biggest mistake of all, and they lose.

The Daily Mail cites the critique of Molly Ball in the Atlantic:

'The speech was so befuddlingly flat as to make you wonder whether its lameness was intentional. The president, that legendary orator, vaunted crowd-mover, well-known sweeper-away of audiences in general and political conventions in particular, gave a warmed-over rehash of his stump speech.'

In the New Republic, another liberal publication, Timothy Noah writes:

Watching President Obama give his nomination speech last night, it occurred to me for the first time that he might actually lose.
...
We’re dangerously close to Jimmy Carter territory here.

The Big Elephant in the Room: Millions Unemployed and No Longer Looking!

Obama didn't even mention unemployment. It's as if he knew that the news from Friday's job's report would be bad. Only 96,000 jobs created in August at the same time 368,000 Americans gave up looking for work. A record 88,921,000 Americans, who the Labor Department calculates could work, are no longer attempting to do so.

During the Obama presidency 30 years of job growth has been wiped out as the chart below showing the labor force points out:

This is Obama's "recovery"!

These stats under report the negative economic and social impact Obama's failure has had on blacks, Hispanics and women who bear an even heavier burden in tough times. War on Women? Obama's leading that charge!

The empty stadium in Charlotte could be filled over and over and over with those who have lost their job and given up looking during Obama's presidency. Their struggle may be ignored by Obama but they will have a chance to have their voice heard in November.

Help is on the way: ROMNEY/RYAN!