President Clinton on Rachael Ray

If you missed President Clinton's visit to Rachael Ray's talk show, here's a clip.

The President discusses the importance of eating correctly and his own personal story with respect to healthy eating. Clinton makes a good point about the cumulative effect of bad eating habits and how decisions we make and patterns we adopt during our younger years will eventually come back to "bite" us.



I don't want to get partisan or political here or anything, but the one thing that really struck me about Clinton's appearance, aside from its message and the potential of efforts like Rachael Ray's Yum-O non-profit organization to make a difference, was his eloquence. Here he is, speaking naturally about health and diet issues. He makes perfect sense, explains his position well, and comes across as both authoritative and relaxed.

Contrast that to current leadership and it makes you want to turn back the clock a little bit. In an era where our leadership mumbles, stumbles and fumbles even during well-rehearsed speeches read from teleprompters, the ability to communicate effectively really stands out.

Please note: I'm discussing the ability to communicate a message--not the message itself. I'm willing to bet even those who agree completely with existing policy measures wish that their advocates had better persuasive and communication skills.