Obama Ain't All That
Back on November 3, 2004, I wrote some hopeful words about the freshman senator of Illinois. He gave one hell of a speech [video part 1 & video part 2 / transcript] at the 2004 DNC, but he hasn't done too much, being extremely cautious. He is far from the savior of the Democratic party. I'm not saying he's not a step in the right direction, but he's no savior. The Democratic party is just this weak.
And then along comes Frank Rich with this op-ed piece [behind the pay wall] in the NY Times titled "Obama Is Not a Miracle Elixer" and I eagerly read on…
What makes the liberal establishment's crush on Mr. Obama disconcerting is that it too often sees him as a love child of a pollster's focus group: a one-man Benetton ad who can be all things to all people. He's black and he's white. He's both of immigrant stock (Kenya) and the American heartland (Kansas, yet). He speaks openly about his faith without disowning evolution. He has both gravitas and unpretentious humor. He was the editor of The Harvard Law Review and also won a Grammy (for the audiobook of his touching memoir, "Dreams From My Father"). He exudes perfection but has owned up to youthful indiscretions with drugs. He is post-boomer and post-civil-rights-movement. He is Bill Clinton without the baggage, a fail-safe 21st-century bridge from "A Place Called Hope" to "The Audacity of Hope."
Mr. Obama has offended no one (a silly tiff with John McCain excepted). Search right-wing blogs and you'll find none of the invective showered on other liberal Democrats in general and black liberal leaders in particular. What little criticism Mr. Obama has received is from those in his own camp who find him cautious to a fault, especially on issues that might cause controversy. The sum of all his terrific parts, this theory goes, may be less than the whole: another Democrat who won't tell you what day it is before calling a consultant, another human weather vane who waits to see which way the wind is blowing before taking a stand.
That has been the Democrats' fatal malady, but it's way too early and there's too little evidence to say Mr. Obama has been infected by it. If he is conciliatory by nature and eager to entertain adversaries' views in good faith, that's not necessarily a fault, particularly in these poisonous times. The question is whether Mr. Obama will stick up for core principles when tested and get others to follow him.
Too good to stay hidden from all. The full text here.
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October 22nd, 2006 @ 2:24 pm
Yeah, the latest Harpers has a pretty good profile titled "Barack Obama Inc." Pretty much the tool of his funders, who look pretty much like the same people funding Republicans and Conservative Democrats across the board. The Harpers article furnishes pretty good evidence that he's another Democrat who won't tell you what day it is before calling a consultant and waits to see which way the wind blows before taking a stand. Obama's take on all of this is that he'd be a different legislator if the Democrats were in power. If he means in terms of the legislation he proposes, well maybe. But on the basis of the legislation he has thus far supported or opposed, and appointments he has supported and opposed, don't hold your breath.