Barack Obama is all talk.

I know this because any number of prominent politicians have been telling me as much the past five or so years, and nothing Barack Obama has done so long as I have known about him has proved otherwise.

Every time I see Barack Obama, he is talking about something. Every time I read the paper, there are more words he has said in quotes all over the page. His answer for everything is to talk about it. New unemployment numbers? Words words words. Direct threats from a foreign dictator? Language language language.

John McCain has picked up on this as well. In a(n otherwise reasonable) letter to supporters expressing his opposition to the current economic stimulus legislation, McCain argues the following:

“I appreciate the discussions President Obama is having with my Republican colleagues, but the time for talking has come to an end and we must now begin some serious negotiation.”

And therein lies the rub: John McCain doesn’t want Barack Obama to talk to his Republican colleagues about the contours of the ever-evolving stimulus package; that time is over. What we need now is some “serious negotiation.”

But what’s that distinction?

Thing is, there really is none.

Politicians talk. A lot. They talk to each other. They talk to reporters. They talk to lobbyists and political contributors. They talk to experts. They talk to us, in political ads and supporter correspondence.

Words words words. Language language language.

The only time a politician accomplishes anything without the use of words is during a vote. Although even then, when not pushing some sort of button or lever, they’re shouting out “Yay” or “Nay,” a form of binary speech.

Talking is political doing. All political action is oratorical; a sport of rhetoric, an art of articulated persuasion. If you ain’t sayin nothin, you ain’t doin shit.

So keep talking, guys. The more you talk, the more you get done.