Top Five Reasons Obama Fails to Inspire

3. Failure to Lead on Iraq War

Obama has made much of his speech in Chicago in 2002 opposing the Iraq war. In that speech, he famously commented: "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars." He words were prescient and might have been laudable if he'd followed up with action.

Obama has tried to use this speech to separate himself from Democrats who voted for the war. No other presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Edwards, opposed the war in 2002.

But war protesters have not been able to count on Obama as a steady supporter. During his ballyhooed speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, he failed to use the platform to decry the war. He followed to form. He strongly supported John Kerry and set the stage for his present run with these famous words

: Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead.

Obama was also asked in 2004 how he would have voted on the Iraq resolution if he had been in the Senate. He said: "What would I have done? I don't know." Since arriving in the Senate, Obama and Clinton have had identical votes on Iraq.

Obama failed to lead on his opposition to the war.

4. Conservative Talking Points

Democratic activists hate it when fellow Democrats use GOP talking points to discuss an issue, because it suggests surrendering the battlefield, which is half the battle. Obama has been guilty of this on several notable occasions.