I just had to post this Daily Show clip, which covers precisely what Eben was talking about when he said politicians have to be empty vessels, waiting to be filled by the voter. That way, when the empty vessel says something like "America needs a return to prosperity", voters can just imagine that the empty vessel is speaking to their specific desires. The voter does the work, molding the empty rhetoric into what they would want from a President.

No one wants a politician that actually speaks his mind, of course!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-23-2012/indecision-2012---rick-santorum-s-conservative-rhetoric

-- KippMueller - 28 Feb 2012