Barack Obama’s ability to accurately communicate continues to be a disappointment to anyone who pays close attention.  Recently, he commented that he would “continue to refine” his policy on Iraq after an upcoming trip to the rapidly rebuilding country.

Obama’s overarching policy has long been that he would “end” the war within 16 months by withdrawing the troops.  But his recent comments about continuing to “refine” his policy brought him significant negative attention.

The curious thing about this is that Obama had no idea that a suggestion that he was to “refine” his policy would cause a stir at all.  In fact, Obama said “I was a little puzzled by the frenzy that I set off by what I thought was a pretty innocuous statement.”

This is disturbing to anyone who understands the importance of clear communication from a President.  In fact, contrast Obama’s style of speech - eloquent, fluffy, largely void of content - with George W. Bush, who regularly destroys the English language and creates entirely new words on the spot, yet still manages to convey a clear thought.

I won’t be sorry to see Bush out of the White House.  But if Obama replaces him, we’ll go from a President whose speech is simple and sometimes a little goofy, but always crystal clear to a President who has only recently learned that eloquence and clarity are not the same.