The power of mere words.

When Barack Obama started to rack up victories in his epic battle for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton attacked. Obama may give a good speech, she said. But he doesn't have the experience and substance. As exciting as his speeches may be, they are, after all, just words.

Obama responded with some more of those words. "The most important thing that we can do right now is to re-engage the American people in the process of governance, to get them interested and excited again," he said at a campaign rally.

"Don't tell me words don't matter. 'I have a dream.' Just words. 'We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.' Just words. 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Just words. Just speeches. It's true that speeches don't solve our problems but what is also true is that if we cannot inspire our country to believe again, it doesn't matter how many policies and plans we have. And that is why I am running for president of the United States of America."

In early 2008, when this exchange took place, the economy was weakening and the mood was sour. In the months leading up to the election, things got much worse. Gallup polls found the public mood fell to depths not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter and the Iranian hostage crisis.

But then a funny thing happened. A Gallup poll released Jan. 20 found that 72 per cent of Americans think "the country will be better off" four years from now. "Public optimism about where the country will stand after Barack Obama's first term as president is substantially higher in the Jan. 9-11 survey than was seen in advance of recent inaugural ceremonies," Gallup reported. "That includes George W. Bush's second turn at the presidential Bible in January 2005, when 53% of Americans said the country would be better off; 46% on the eve of Bush's first inauguration in 2001; and 51% immediately after Bill Clinton's election in 1992."

What happened? Just words.
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Immediately after the election -- before Obama had done anything as the president-elect -- the percentage of Americans saying they believed the United States would be better off in four years hit 65 per cent. At a time of rapidly deepening recession -- of job losses, stock declines, and predictions of worse to come -- two-thirds of Americans were optimistic for no other reason than the words Obama had spoken.

Just words.

Of course, it mattered greatly that the words came from a man endowed with charisma, intelligence, and a deep understanding of the power of words. Words really are "just words" when delivered by lesser leaders.

Jimmy Carter was a lesser leader.

In 1979, Carter presided over a country similar in many ways to that of America in the last days of the Bush presidency. Economic crises. International crises. Deep pessimism.

On July 15, Carter gave a televised speech to rally Americans. The parallels between that speech and the inaugural address delivered by Barack Obama yesterday are remarkable.

After saying he intended to talk about the energy crisis, Carter declared there was a deeper crisis at work, a crisis that "is nearly invisible in ordinary ways." It is a "crisis of confidence," he said.

"We've always believed in something called progress. We've always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own. Our people are losing that faith."

Thirty years later, Obama echoed the same theme. "That we are in a crisis now is well understood," he said. Some parts of the crisis are measurable, "subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights."

In both speeches, there was re-assurance.
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The United States is a nation "with unmatched economic power and military might," Carter observed.

"We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth," Obama said.

In both speeches, past struggles were cited. In both, Americans were called to have faith in themselves. In both, they were called on to do hard but necessary work.

"We know the strength of America," Carter insisted. "We are strong. We can regain our unity. We can regain our confidence. We are the heirs of generations who survived threats much more powerful and awesome than those that challenge us now."

"There are some who question the scale of our ambitions," Obama said. "For they have forgotten what this country has already done. ... Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

But that is where the similarities end.

Jimmy Carter's speech bombed. Dubbed the "malaise speech" -- even though the word "malaise" wasn't used -- it successfully captured the nation's bleak mood. But rather than rally Americans, it depressed them. In the election of 1980, Carter lost to the good cheer and optimism of Ronald Reagan.

Although it's impossible to know how Obama's speech will reverberate, it's safe to say the yes-we-can spirit resounded. At a minimum, it will be remembered as an inspiring call to duty. It may even have that effect.

Two similar times. Two similar speeches. Two very different reactions.

"For the first time in the history of our country," Carter observed in 1979, "a majority of people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years."

Today, with almost three-quarters of Americans believing better days lie ahead, we have witnessed what "just words" can do.

You can contact Dan Gardner at the Ottawa Citizen.
E-mail: dgardner@thecitizen.canwest.com

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