DaytonDailyNews.com

Barack Obama became a national figure by giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention four years ago. It seems a strange way to become a presidential prospect, but he didn't invent it.

Abraham Lincoln had never been a governor, senator, Cabinet member or general before becoming president. He had only been a member of the House of Representatives, and only for one term, and that term ended a decade before he ran for president.

He became a national figure by running for the Senate in 1858 (and losing) and having a series of debates with the incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas. Those debates were a lot like what we call speeches today. The contenders could talk for the likes of 40 minutes; and there was no Jim Lehrer to suggest what they might talk about.

The debates got national attention. Then, as the presidential election drew nearer, former Rep. Lincoln gave a speech in New York City that got more attention and made it official that he was a presidential prospect, notwithstanding the far greater experience of other candidates.

Between Messrs. Lincoln and Obama, Ronald Reagan became a national political figure with a stirring speech he gave on television for Barry Goldwater in 1964, before Mr. Reagan had ever held public office. Two years later, he was elected governor of California. The rest was anticlimactic.

Under the right circumstances, speeches can substitute for years of experience — whether they should or not.

But there is, of course, also the matter of decision-making. Sen. Obama's selection of a running mate suggests something about him on that score: no matter how much he talks about representing "change," he can be strikingly cautious and conventional — or, if you will, sober and pragmatic.

Some Daytonians saw Sen. Joe Biden live a few years ago when he came to an anniversary of the Dayton peace accords on Bosnia. In the keynote speech and in conversation, he demonstrated a mastery of Balkans policy, a terribly complex subject. He delivered a ringing call for the spirit of "Dayton," for a more forceful policy than the Bush administration was pursuing.

He has the same command of many foreign policy issues, having risen to the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and, indeed, of many domestic issues, having been in the Senate for more than a third of a century.

His familiarity with the complexities of issues has a downside, fostering his well-earned reputation for verbosity and, shall we say, imprecision in speech. He tries to head off any possible criticism of his points, and — at least when off the cuff — he can get lost in the details.

He has shown other flaws. He used to get way overheated and personal in some committee hearings. And he had to abandon his 1988 presidential campaign when he was discovered to have lifted a supposedly autobiographical passage from a British politician.

But Sen. Obama got to observe him closely during this year's presidential campaign and has worked with him on Foreign Relations. He is apparently satisfied that the old failings are largely of the past. We'll see.

Vice presidential candidates typically have no impact on the outcome of presidential elections. Sen. Biden seems unlikely to upset the pattern.

Now comes Sen. Obama's return engagement at the Democrats' convention. He arrives this time as a political miracle and a historic figure. And yet doubts about him are as powerful and prevalent as hopes for him.

In recent weeks, Sen. Obama has seen his lead in the polls dissipate as he has traveled to Europe, vacationed in Hawaii, sought a running mate, worked on his convention speech and perhaps laid plans for the fall campaign. This suggests that he is still a somewhat unknown quantity. Opinions about him are still fluid. He has to be out there making the case for himself. He can't rely on anybody else, least of all the media, though they are often accused of favoring him.

The convention venue is right for him. He is not the greatest debater in the world. In the debates during the presidential primaries, Sen. Hillary Clinton did better. And when Sen. Obama and Sen. John McCain were interviewed a week ago on television by the same minister, Sen. McCain did better.

But in his 2004 speech, Sen. Obama struck a national chord. The speech is remembered for both message and delivery. He said the country is wrongly described as divided between "red" and "blue" states, Republican and Democratic. He said Americans are united by far more than divides them, but that our politics and governance too often highlight, revolve around and obsess over the divisions.

The message was true, important, inspiring and fresh. It is less fresh today. It needs to be enlarged upon and eventually brought to life by deeds, as opposed to words.

The pressure is on.