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"Hope" and "change" do not a platform make. Neither do negativity and pessimism. So it's reassuring to see greater scrutiny of what exactly Barack Obama stands for. Obama's candidacy, while historic, must not go unexamined or unquestioned. Taken together, the slogans and the policy prescriptions would amount to very bad news for America.

But the good news is, Americans have plenty of time to figure that out.

The other day, KansasGirl took me to task for my critique of Michelle Obama's UCLA speech. The gist: I think the Obamas' talk about fixing souls is worse than Mike Huckabee's speechifying about making America conform to God's law, and KansasGirl thinks I'm being unfair.

Naturally, I disagree. The candidate and his campaign are pushing a message of radical transformation. Break down what Mrs. Obama said the other day: America has problems; the only person running for president who can solve those problems is Obama; before we solve the country's problems, we need to recognize our souls are broken and fix them; therefore Obama is a both problem-solver and a soul-fixer. I don't believe that is an unfair characterization of what Michelle Obama said. I think she believes it sincerely. I think Barack Obama believes it, too. This isn't nitpicking or "gotcha" politics. What Michelle Obama says offers as much insight into Barack Obama's candidacy as anything the candidate says for himself.

But if all of that is true, then I think Obama is considerably more to the left than most voters realize and many self-styled independents or so-called "Obamalicans" would be comfortable with.

Look closer at the rhetoric. Beneath the message of hope is hopelessness. Here is what Michelle Obama said in Milwaukee on Monday:

What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud.

John Podhoretz, as usual, makes the obvious point:

Michelle Obama is 44 years old. She has been an adult since 1982. Can it really be there has not been a moment during that time when she felt proud of her country? Forget matters like the victory in the Cold War; how about only things that have made liberals proud -- all the accomplishments of inclusion? How about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991? Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s elevation to the Supreme Court? Or Carol Moseley Braun’s election to the Senate in (1992)?

That's right. But beyond that, there's a profound negativity underlying the Obama campaign. Broken souls. Hunger for change after years of frustration and disappointment. Dan Henninger sees it, too. "Strip away the new coat of paint from the Obama message and what you find is not only familiar," Henninger wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "It's a downer."

In Obama's America, observes Henninger:

(A worker) lies awake at night wondering how he's going to pay the bills... she works the night shift after a full day of college and still can't afford health care for a sister who's ill... the senior I met who lost his pension when the company he gave his life to went bankrupt... the teacher who works at Dunkin' Donuts after school just to make ends meet... I was not born into money or status... I've fought to bring jobs to the jobless in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant... to make sure people weren't denied their rights because of what they looked like or where they came from... Now we carry our message to farms and factories.

"I am not saying all of this is false," Henninger concludes. "But it is a depressing message to ride all the way to the White House."

Pride goes before the fall, as the adage goes. Presidents can change policy, for better and for worse. Presidents can change the tone of political debate. But Presidents cannot change human nature. They cannot fix souls. Heaven knows, they've tried. In the end, pride in voting for Barack Obama may not be enough. I wonder how long before the Obamas conclude, as Jimmy Carter did, that the problem with America is Americans?