I kept saying Kamala was trying to do an impression of Obama because he was a true master at speaking at length but not saying very much, sprinkling in lies, and adding large dollops of pre-compromises. Her worldview is the same as his. But his manner of speaking does not suit her at all. My theory was wrong. She surely knows she's not a master of rhetoric. She wouldn't try to copy him. And then it hit me. He's been staring at me in the face: Buttigieg. At her worst she can't help but mimic him.

Where Obama would lie with fancy language - Buttigieg's comments are very hard to define as lies because he hardly says anything of note. Content and meaning are sorely lacking. He's a machine that generates jargon, neoliberal constructs, business-speak and doubletalk. She tries to do that too but she's pretty bad at it.