Obama Uses ‘Soft Power’ to Quiet Critics, Move Agenda
When President Barack Obama remarked on the obvious last month – that he has a pen and a phone – his intent was to convey a sort of bluster about his willingness to accomplish his agenda without Congress. The reaction from Republicans was a mix of criticism that Mr. Obama had given up on legislating and, more pointedly, that he was threatening to overreach his authority.
The latter critique has pretty much quieted, and Mr. Obama’s latest use of executive power, announced Thursday, suggests why.
The initiative, called My Brother’s Keeper, is a public-private partnership that helps disadvantaged black and Latino boys. This sort of “soft power” essentially uses the lure of the White House – and time with the commander in chief – to convene business executives, celebrities, civic leaders and philanthropists around a presidential objective.
And, as Chris Lehane, who worked for President Bill Clinton, said: “There’s almost no business, no entity, no individual who won’t show up if they’re called and asked to come to the White House.”
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http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/02/28/obama-uses-soft-power-to-quiet-critics-move-agenda/
