First Read: Making sense of President Obama

[Pirate Smile]

Making sense of President Obama

Posted: Monday, December 28, 2009 11:28 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: White House, Barack Obama
From NBC's Mark Murray

Channeling something we've said before, the New York Times' Nagourney wrote on Saturday that, during the presidential campaign, many people saw in Barack Obama what they wanted to see. Liberals and progressives saw him as one of their own. Independents saw him as someone who would be a "post-partisan" president. And disaffected Republicans saw him as someone who would do what George W. Bush promised -- but failed -- to: engage in "humble" foreign policy and be a good steward of the nation's finances.

But as Nagourney noted, the kind of president Obama has become so far -- someone who is willing to work with the system to create change, someone who is willing to accept half a loaf -- shouldn't be surprising to anyone who paid attention to what he said during the campaign.

As Times columnist Ross Douthat added on Saturday: "In hindsight, the most prescient sentence penned during the presidential campaign belongs to Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker. 'Perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama,' he wrote in July 2008, 'is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them.'" More: "In this regard, he most resembles Ronald Reagan and Edward Kennedy. Both were highly ideological politicians who trained themselves to work within the system. Both preferred cutting deals to walking away from the negotiating table."

Yet Douthat sees this potential downside for Obama. "Obama doesn’t enjoy the kind of deep credibility with his base that both Reagan and Kennedy spent decades building. When Kennedy told liberals that a given compromise was the best they could get, they believed him. Whether the issue is health care or Afghanistan, Obama’s word doesn’t carry the same weight."

But to us, Douthat seems to misidentify Obama's base. It's not necessarily Daily Kos and MoveOn.org -- the groups that are upset about the public option's exclusion from the Senate health-care bill -- but rather minorities (especially African Americans), urban residents, and voters under 30. Still, according to this month's NBC/WSJ poll, liberals approve of Obama's job by a 79%-14% clip.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/12/28/2161645.aspx

[kimmerspixelated]

1. A year ago we sure thought there was real change coming.

It is hard to believe we will ever truly believe in any politician again. Obama was the BEST speaker, ever! You believed. If he couldn't deliver, who could? I still like him, but truly don't you think he basically just sold out to the corps? I like to think that someone just "got to him"-DO THIS OR ELSE! We are all crestfallen Americans , scratching our heads, wondering if once again we've been duped. Or maybe, we're not wondering anymore.

To say something positive: I DO think that Obama will be able to do something to help us truly love him again. I have a feeling.

[Teaser]

13. who's crestfallen?

I ain't.

[Phx_Dem]

2. I'm extremely pleased with what Obama has done and is doing. Of course,

I actually paid attention and knew who I was voting for.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Me too.

[bevoette]

9. that is so right

with few exceptions, he's done nothing that surprised me and most things i expected

i don't know what candidate people were watching :shrug:

[Nedsdag]

16. Me three! n/t

[grantcart]

4. gallup confirms the premise that the base is still solid for Obama

[goclark]

6. Thanks grantcart ~ perhaps the backlash is making in better

for Obama.

:shrug:

That would be so nice.

[Beetwasher]

5. At Heart A Liberal In Practice A Pragmatist

That would be my pithy summation.

[Cha]

7. A Pragmatist to keep

things moving forward..slow progressive steps building on a solid foundation.

[Clio the Leo]

8. How is it that we all listened to the same guy...

..... and some of us are deeply disappointed and confused .... and I sit here rarely surprised at anything he's done (and I suspect I'm not the only one who feels that way.)

Now, I will admit to reading "Audacity" more times than I can count .... and that's probably not typical of Obama "supporters."

But I know I'm not just satisfied due to random luck either. So far, I'm getting exactly what I expected .... and I'm quite pleased.

[bevoette]

10. exactly (nm)

[Arkana]

11. Exactly. It was those people they went after during the primaries.

The core constituencies--the activist crowd--were all on Hillary's side. So, he had to figure out how to win a different way.

[Lord Helmet]

12. "The core constituencies--the activist crowd--were all on Hillary's side."

Wrong. In fact, the "activist crowd" despised Hillary (DLC, Third Way, the Family). It wasn't until she lost did they start pretending they liked her all along in their opposition to the guy that did win.

[jenmito]

14. K&R. n/t

[PopSixSquish]

15. Yuppers - I Knew Exactly Who I Was Voting For in November

and while I am disappointed by some of the things the President has done, I am beyond pleased with others. Life is a series of small victories and forward moves...