Yes, that's it exactly. Obama ran a brilliant campaign by using a great gift of oratory. He was, is, a great orator. But oratory is one-way, communication is two-way, and involves listening. Communication is what made FDR and Reagan among the most effective of modern presidents. Oratory belongs to 19th century politics.

Obama delivered great oratory in defending the Constitutional right of Muslims to build a mosque anywhere, just as other Americans build their houses of worship. If he had been listening to the sensitivities of others, he might have communicated his defense of religious freedom in a way that did not offend opponents of the mosque--and that didn't force him to backtrack (again), opening himself and his party yet again to a GOP assault.