Sen. Barack Obama is a paper tiger, and when he’s finally challenged, his campaign is going to come out on the bad end of a paper shredder.

Although Obama explains his plans for the future of our country optimistically, if you look below the surface of his words, it’s fairly obvious that none of it is straight talk. After setting aside his smile and charm, it’s clear there’s a serious void of important information in his statements.

Despite generating a huge amount of noise, Obama has yet to lay out any specifics on any issue whatsoever. Take the Iraq War – one of the most important issues to Americans. According to Obama’s Web site, he has called for, “A reduction in the number of U.S. Troops; a time frame for a phased withdrawal; the Iraqi government to make progress on forming a political solution; improved reconstruction efforts to restore basic services in Iraq; and engaging the international community, particularly key neighboring states and Arab nations, to become more involved in Iraq.”

Now, all of that may sound wonderful to you, but do you have any idea how he plans to accomplish any of it?

How would Obama prevent the millions of deaths that will result from his reduction of troops? We don’t know. How would Obama encourage the Iraqi politicians to make progress on forming a political solution? We don’t know. How would he get increasingly hostile Arab nations to work with us? We don’t know. How would he secure the basic services in Iraq once they’re restored? Once again, we don’t know. Obama’s statements bring about more questions than answers; more confusion than clarity.

If Obama wants to be taken serious by the American people, then he’s going to have to realize feel-good statements simply won’t replace specifics. For too long, the American people have heard too little information they can rely upon from politicians. Obama, we need numbers, dates and facts that can be backed up, and until you provide them, it’s simply unrealistic to consider you for leadership of the free world.

The fact is, this candidate has never really been tested; he’s glided into office without serious contenders and without serious campaigns being run against him. Since he’s never been asked hard, straight-forward questions, Obama has never had to provide those type of answers.

For Obama, the future is here, and he’s about to run smack into one of the toughest, most vicious campaigners out there – Sen. Hillary Clinton. The Clinton political machine will take no prisoners in its quest for the White House, something Obama will discover as the air leaks out of his overfilled rhetoric. And if – just if – he defeats the former first lady, he’s going to have an even tougher fight against the Republicans, who are hungry to demonstrate the last election was a fluke.

Obama, get out your boxing gloves. You’re in for the fight of your life, and you’re outmatched.

Matt White is a senior magazine journalism major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].