Cruel Intentions-Is Obama cynical enough? by Noam Scheiber

[babylonsister]

Insightful article for Obama fans...

The New Republic
Cruel Intentions by Noam Scheiber
Is Obama cynical enough?
Post Date Wednesday, May 28, 2008


Barack Obama doesn't express anger like the rest of us. He becomes cold and distant, rather than hot and strident. He over-enunciates and clips the final word of each sentence. Such was his posture on April 29, when Obama held a press conference to denounce the latest rantings of his ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright. To the reporters who follow him from stop to stop, Obama was "seething" and "clearly upset." But, to the folks watching at home, Obama may as well have been leading a seminar on contract arbitration. A mere 30 percent of voters thought Obama was genuinely outraged, according to one poll. Fifty-eight percent said he'd denounced Wright out of political calculation.

The irony, of course, is that the reason Obama found himself in this mess was that he hadn't been calculating enough. Had he repudiated Wright back in March, when the reverend first entered the public consciousness, it hardly would have mattered what manner of deranged musing Wright later conjured up. But Obama had refused to cut the cord, and Wright wrapped it around his windpipe. On "Meet the Press" that Sunday, Obama sounded like a man who'd endured a million "I told you so"s. "It's always good to pull the Band-Aid off quick," he conceded when asked what he'd learned.

After eight years of the Clintons and eight more of Karl Rove, there's no doubt Obama's queasiness on matters of political expediency holds a certain appeal. "The politically correct, in quotes, thing to do would be to throw the guy off the boat the first chance you had," says one Obama confidant. "No one doubts Hillary would have done that." He did not mean this as a compliment. On the other hand, there's clearly some amount of cynicism, calculation, and ruthlessness that's required of any successful candidate. Which makes it worth asking: How much of these qualities does Barack Obama possess--and is it enough?

In the Clinton campaign's telling, Obama is hardly the Bambi-like figure his supporters imagine. To the Clintonites, the only thing more galling than Team Obama's portrayal of Hillary as someone who will "say anything to get elected" is the rank hypocrisy of the exercise. On practically every conference call they host, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson and his deputy, Phil Singer, marvel at the chutzpah of someone purporting to change politics while running such and such an ad or sending out such and such a mailer. That they say this in practically the same breath that they bash Obama as an out-of-touch elitist doesn't make it untrue.

Privately, even loyalists concede Obama is more than willing to be ruthless. They often do so with a tinge of pride and satisfaction. "Just ask that lady he bumped off the ballot," says one campaign official when I bring up Obama's alleged softness. "That lady" would be former Illinois state senator Alice Palmer. In 1995, Palmer decided to run for an open congressional seat and all but proclaimed Obama her heir apparent. But, after losing the primary, Palmer wanted to stick with her old job. Obama wouldn't budge. For good measure, he challenged the petitions she'd filed to run for reelection, alleging that many of her signatures were flawed. Palmer withdrew, and Obama eventually waltzed into office unopposed.

more...

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=f8fff884-3f33-4b0e-8cc8-0de1a217604f&p=1

[midnight]

1. Yea what he did to Ms. Palmer is not the kind of ruthlessness this

Country needs. This country needs the retro-immunity actions for spying on us stopped. We need the banking and other financial institutions put in check. We need insurance co. to stop being the gate keepers to our medical treatment. He needs to be ruthless with thugs, not female politicians.

[patrice]

3. It's up to us to create the pressure for these things locally.

We need to know who amongst us is to be trusted to help create that pressure.

[babylonsister]

4. There's nothing imo to indicate he won't be ruthless if in a position

that requires it. I do like his concept of trying to work with people first instead of fighting with them.

[patrice]

2. Self-control IS a good quality & the high road IS a good place to be, but when picking your battles,

timing IS everything and timing is half data, half instinct.

[babylonsister]

5. I've just been blown away by his control, and that also speaks to

his instincts. Imagine a level-headed person at the reins instead of a hothead. I can't wait!

[patrice]

6. That self-control puts the LIE to all of that stuff about how "fuzzy" people say he is. Self-control

is NOT EVEN POSSIBLE without a definite sense of what your values are and where you are going.