Obama’s big speech in Ohio was supposed to be (once again) his big moment: the moment when he pivots, re-focuses on the things Americans care about, and—of course—turns around his electoral fortunes. We’ve seen this before, of course, a number of times. One of the big ones was his speech in Osawatomie, where he tried (and failed) to channel better presidents and better men in what was supposed to be a memorable, seminal speech. It wasn’t.

Though he probably continues to be blissfully unaware of this fact, Obama will never have a “tear down this wall” speech. He’s a cipher. The only ideas about which he is truly passionate are the ideas of the radical left—ideas that most Americans, were they to see their true nature laid bare before them, would find repugnant. He is incapable of seeing past these narrow ideas, developed as a young man studying at the feet of réchauffé Marxist college professors. And so all he can do is repeat them, over and over.

The RNC knew this was coming. They made an ad before the speech predicting how hollow it would be. Then Obama gave the speech, and, once again, he gave the Republicans another gift:

As pathetic as that is, it takes on a downright eerie quality when you recall that it’s happened before: