Ake,
Barack Obama seldom uses speech writers, especially for town halls and such. (It's Palin and McCain who read their speeches from teleprompters. Maybe Biden too, but Obama writes his own speeches - and is also not afraid to speak off the cuff.)

As for Obama not wanting to be too specific about what sort of CHANGE he wants," give me a break.   If you listen to his DNC acceptance speech and to his actual interviews and press conferences and town halls, you'll see he is quite specific about many aspects of his policies.   Those who disagree with his vision do criticize him for those specifics, but he's not hesitant to give them. This contrasts quite sharply with most of McCain's and Palin's promises of "reform" and "change" and standing up for America.