Obama's fancy speech doesn't reveal emptiness as much as a lack of realism and, possibly, deception. He waxes eloquent about unity, bipartisanship and hope. But does anyone, let alone Hillary, ever ask him to explain precisely how he would achieve such harmony when pursuing a far-leftist agenda that is anathema to at least a majority of this center-right nation?

How unified do you think Americans would be if Obama were to pursue a policy of retreat and defeat in Iraq just as we are on the verge of wining there? Will the right sit idly by while he implements his version of socialized medicine? How about more onerous taxes? Further entitlement spending? Open borders?

As a Hail Mary, perhaps Hillary could say: "Barack makes nice-sounding words. But he's not being straight with you. I'll be straight with you. We Democrats do offer hope, but it's not the kind of hope Republicans are going to like. We can't promise you we'll achieve perfect harmony or bipartisanship. In fact, we can pretty much guarantee Republicans will try to obstruct our program for change -- you've seen how they've blocked our plans since we took control of Congress -- because we have a different vision, a progressive vision looking to the future. Barack gives you the false hope that this is going to be easy. I'm telling you the truth -- I'm giving you the reality. Like at all other points in our history, it is going to be a struggle against those who don't share our vision. But it will be worth it, and we'll prevail, because we have the right vision, the noble vision that is best for the people and reflects their will."

The problem is that Hillary might even be worse off using that approach because to attack "hope" and to try to put a damper on Barack's infectious optimism is like trying to badmouth motherhood and apple pie.

Nor is she, being sympathetic to socialism herself, in a position to point out Obama's inconsistency in pretending to love individual responsibility and entrepreneurship while recommending mostly government-based solutions.

Let's face it: Short of a major scandal or a vice-presidential nod, Hillary's pretty much out of luck.