Ronald Reagan was deservedly known as “the Great Communicator,” a politician with quick wit, an authentic smile, and the ability to deliver his message with the force and substance that can only be backed by the exact optimism he espoused. In communication circles, this is known as “congruity.”

Barack Obama is known as quite the communicator in his own right – he’s been called a “master”. And when the spotlight is on, he does indeed display a poise and sense of tempo that is in stark contrast with his predecessor, one Dubya “Is Our Children Learning?” Bush.

But to realistically understand Barack Obama’s actual talents as an orator, you have to stack him against someone who could speak circles around Dubya. Compared to Martin Luther King, Obama has no energy. Compared to JFK, he looks dry.

Compared to The Great Communicator? It’s really no contest.

So what, you say. After all, it’s possible to support a President who isn’t the greatest speaker in the world.

True. But they make Obama out to be a stunning orator who sends tingles up their legs.

For now, let’s concentrate on the most glaring of Obama’s oratory issues: the teleprompters. He can’t live without them. No, not even in school classrooms:

And not even in his task force meetings:

Watching Obama speak is like watching a member of a tennis audience – their heads will predictably move back and forth and you’re left wondering if you’re missing out on the real action by watching the wrong person.

Obama is, of course, not the first president ever to use teleprompters, and using them isn’t what makes him a bad president. But it does reveal a significant chink in his armor of Oratory Superiority: he has a clear crutch that has sunk to embarrassing levels. Even mediocre speakers like George W. Bush could at least ditch the teleprompters when they’d simply become distracting to the audience, no?

I’ve been watching State of the Union speeches for a while now, and in terms of the speechmaking department, Barack Obama is essentially a modest-to-strong improvement over Bush. That’s it. I’m not sure Obama’s better than Clinton was, and I’m certain that he’s no Great Communicator.

For contrast, consider Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan’s strength in communicating came from two things: his skills and charisma as a communicator, and his deep belief in the principles he held. In other words, there was no “static” in between his mind and his mouth. The listener hears a clearly-tuned signal and receives it without impediment. That’s great communication. (Note: Watch “A Time For Choosing,” Ronald Reagan’s speech at the 1964 Republican Convention, to watch great skill come in harmony with great conviction.)

Obama clearly aspires to Reagan’s level of communication – he’s even said he wants Obama Republicans like Reagan had Reagan Democrats. But he so plainly falls short that he just looks ordinary. He is also demonstrably a poor communicator when it comes to policy. After dozens of speeches about health care, many people still seem to think that the problem with passing health care is that it hasn’t been made clear enough to the public. In fact, you might even make the point that all the ambiguity has helped give rise to all the anti-government sentiment that’s sweeping the country right now.

But, for all of my criticism, it’s clear that Obama’s not a bad speaker. Unless, of course, he’s speaking to your sixth grade class. Or if you’re one of the many people who can see right up his nostrils.

It’s just too difficult to get past the idea that someone who needs teleprompters in a school classroom is all that great at public speaking. Especially as great as they make Obama to be. This guy think he’s one of the best speakers of his lifetime. This guy feels tingles up his legs. Obama’s not even the best Presidential speaker of the last twenty-five years, if that. And “the best President public speaker since Bill Clinton” is not exactly high praise.

With Obama’s most recent State of the Union fresh in your mind, take a look at the easy energy and the rock-solid conviction that Reagan spoke with in 1982.

Though liberals might like to compare Obama to Reagan, there is really no comparison. Reagan used his oratory to communicate a foundation of hopes and deep beliefs; Obama uses oratory as his foundation. It’s built on sand.