Has Barack Obama brought eloquence back to 21st-century politics for good?

That’s the question  (hagiographical as it may be) that animates the BBC’s new documentary, Yes We Can! The Lost Art of Oratory.

Full disclosure:  I was interviewed for this series, although I haven’t yet figured out if I outmuscled — our out-talked – the likes of Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Bob Geldof, Neil Kinnock, Ted Sorenson, and Alastair Campbell for screen time.

My posture, for what it’s worth, is that eloquence never left American politics — it’s just that modern media has made more attractive those candidates who can master both the art of conversation and oration.

It’ll be interesting to see what other participants in this project had to say.