Peerless oratory, steady character, integrity...

Sounds like a good, small-town reverend.

Seriously, I have to call 'em as I see 'em. And if the spin game is Reynolds' schtick, then Sullivan puffs. Check this out:

I have found his oratory to be peerless, and the steadiness of his character remarkable. On this front, Clinton simply isn't in his league. And with the exception of McCain and Paul, none of the Republicans matches his integrity. Clinton is competent, careful, prudent ... but Obama is in a different class. If you read this speech you may see why.

It's probably good Sullivan is out of the dating market; I suspect he'd fall for the smooth talkers anynight. Some guys are exceptionally good at the talking game, sound wonderful but that doesn't necessarily make for the greatest performance.

I like Barack Obama, don't get me wrong. I think with his rhetoric and bipartisan skills, he has the makings to be a wonderful senator, uniting factions to see it's in their best interests to work together for the good of the country.

I came up in Cook County, Illinois -- integrated public schools, Northern attitudes of equality. It's nothing personal, not at all racist to point out that it's his color that has liberals swooning and fawning over his impressive rhetoric skills and dynamic fire-lighting that no doubt moves crowds. Were he, say, Barry O'Brien though, a first-term senator from Illinois, he'd not get a second look as a serious presidential candidate. The credentialed resume just doesn't compensate for the political greenness, the thin political experience.

He won't win this election. Again, I hope I'm not taken the wrong way, but in Sullivan's defense, I think there are certain things you understand instinctually having grown up in America and lived in various regions. America as a whole will not elect this man president next year. Now I'm sure some would like to believe this is due to bigotry, that "we're just not there yet." Truth be told, even without the manufactured scandal, I wonder if Clarence Thomas would be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice in this day and age. His race too helped him jump the line.

We're looking past color, most of us who were raised together. We really do want to see what it is you've done, to give us a better idea of where it is you're going. Now for college admissions, you might give the benefit of the doubt, because all the candidates are young, nobody's really done much of anything on their own -- outside perhaps of extra special opportunities provided by parents. But this is the highest office in the land, Commander in Chief. No time to give out extra points for likeability, motivational ability, character, or promise. No, we really want to see a track record, what you've done to lead.

I really hope Sen. Obama is what he seems. I hope he returns to the Senate determined to show us what he can do based on his credentials, and then gets in there and works it for all he's worth: leading on the big issues, fighting for what he believes, uniting for the common good as his potential seems to indicate. Let him put on some weight, so to speak, on the important issues, just as promising college athletes become professional rookies who have to build themselves up to show their teams what they really can do at the next level. If he's as good as the hype, he will show his talents in the Senate -- an arena sorely lacking for competitive skills like his.

Then, I suspect, he'll earn more votes from across the country the next time he runs for president. Too many Americans still believe in results to go electing someone without. That's a good thing, I think. And Sen. Obama is just a little too late to have us believe that it's all about winning an election, when that's really just the start of the game. Karl Rove has already played that hand, and Americans have wised up, I believe. We need somebody fit from the start to get the job done, to understand what the the actual job entails -- not just to win an election and think leadership is just playing the base, cruising along until the next election. We've seen in the past 8 years exactly where that leaves us, and we want better.

And I know, from the bottom of my American heart, that wanting better the best is a good thing.

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Oh, and fwiw, lots of Americans -- even Chicagoans -- think Oprah Winfrey is over-rated.