The change candidate.

(Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a rally before 20,000 supporters in Austin, TX on Feb. 23,2007; photo by Jim Ranes)

I watched Hillary's Selma speech yesterday on C-SPAN, and I'm more and more convinced that, in the end, she just won't be able to hold off Obama.

I want to like Hillary, and save her dereliction on the war, I generally like her politics. But to me, the speech really exposed her weaknesses. From the unpleasant, droning timbre of her voice to the odd glare she projects when speechifying, she's just isn't a talented speaker. She seems continuously uncomfortable, even in a friendly room. Worse, her delivery had a faux revival cadence to it, making her seem programmed, calculating, phony.

Still, none of these flaws hurt Hillary as much as her eight years in the White House.

If the assumption for '08 is Americans want change, she doesn't represent it. Yes, by being a Democrat, she has a leg up on the GOP candidates, including Rudy, who's the closest thing the Republicans have to a "change" candidates (McCain is so 1999 and Romney is a Republican governor -- 'nuff said).

But there is no one who more embodies change than Obama. It remains to be seen if that's enough, but Hillary's got her work cut out for her.

UPDATE

I see that Putz and the wingnuts also noticed the fauxness of Hillary's delivery. I was hoping it was just me.