Uh Oh!
January 26, 2010, 10:50 am
Posted by Margaret O'Brien Steinfels
Last week it was Paul Krugman, today it’s Bob Herbert:
Mr. Obama may be personally very appealing, but he has positioned himself all over the political map: the anti-Iraq war candidate who escalated the war in Afghanistan; the opponent of health insurance mandates who made a mandate to buy insurance the centerpiece of his plan; the president who stocked his administration with Wall Street insiders and went to the mat for the banks and big corporations, but who is now trying to present himself as a born-again populist.
And then! this morning it was Obama himself saying better a good one-term president, than a two-term mediocrity.
Was this the point in his presidency where Clinton re-assessed, began pursuing what was possible, and salvaged his presidency (until Monica Lewinski anyway)?
Now the NYT is asking, “Who is Barack Obama?”. Answer: The man who fell to earth.
I see the usual insightful RS remark.
Actually, I think we should see how the new Dem party chairman proceeds and also how the State of the union goes.
Then we’ll have time for instaanalysis and the usual(suspects’) snakies.
My gut says that we’ll see a new side of Obama in the next couple of months. He’s nothing if not adaptable.
Besides, it’s 3 years before the next election. That’s a political eternity.
Anyone see this week’s New Yorker cover?
Yes Margaret I did see it – Funny
Really though, don’t you think people act a bit silly when it comes to the expectations we have of politicians?
I mean after, President Obama is flawed as we all are. While he is currently learning the ropes of presidential politics via several quick and hard lessons, I think with time, he will trim his sails accordingly.
I always said that I’d never own a gun. An 8 year stint in the military gave me ample experience in the damage those things can do.
However, reading that New Yorker article and seeing the resurgence of the mentality of the 1950s, I might have to change my mind.
K: I don’t want Obama to trim his sails! Especially if he’s a one-termer.
JM: Which article? TP? by Ben McGrath?
What does the one-term remark mean? That he’s going to stick to his program even if it’s unpopular and he goes down in flames in 2012? Does that mean that he isn’t throwing in the towel on health care?
Obama made the one-term remark to Diane Sawyer on TV this AM. Not sure what he means. Maybe the job isn’t as great as he thought.
He has already thrown in thrown in the towel when he agreed to THE SURGE
Mary Bergen: Don’t think so. Maybe you threw in the towel when he agreed to the surge, doubt he did.
I didn’t see the Diane Sawyer interview, so I don’t know if Obama expanded on the “one term” remark in that interview or somewhere else, but NPR reported that he recently stated that ” getting re-elected isn’t part of the job description for a politician.” A good line. I hope the umpteen other politicians in the U.S.–federal, state, local–recognize the four corners of their job descriptions.
This is quintessential Obama. Sounds really good, but what does it mean?
I am going to stick to my guns and continue to alienate the voters because I know what’s good for them? Is this his “Profiles in Courage” moment?
The point is a good president leads the nation. It’s more than having clever ideas coming out of big Ivy League brains.