Andrew Sullivan Just Wrote The Most Brilliant Piece On Obama I Think I've Ever Read

[THUNDER HANDS]

His calm is almost unnatural. I’ve been following Barack Obama closely now for two years and I’ve never seen him or even heard of him losing his temper. The worst I’ve seen was a little irritation at a fund-raiser a year and a half ago where some volunteers backstage were making so much noise that he couldn’t think straight. There was a little edge in his voice as he asked them to quieten down. During some of the tensest moments in the primary campaign, he would sometimes go into a hotel room alone for a few minutes, compose himself and then come back out. Hillary Clinton cried in public. Bill Clinton got red in the face and made some borderline racist remarks. John McCain picked Sarah Palin, called Obama Britney Spears, suspended his campaign in the middle of a financial panic, unveiled a completely loopy mortgage bailout scheme on live television last week and explodes on cue like a microwaved bag of popcorn.

Obama? He lollops along with a calm smile and a physical fluency that is hard to mock or copy. If he were a boxer, he’d be the kind who keeps moving but hangs back. He waits for his opponents to take a swing, ducks and comes back into the game. He sticks to a game plan and rarely deviates. And he waits for his opponent to make an error. Watching his autumn fight with McCain reminds me of the Wile E Coyote and Road Runner cartoons. Every elaborate attempt to blow Obama up leaves his opponents with sooty faces and a trail of smoke rising from the tops of their heads. Remember the Clintons? They assumed this young liberal black man from Chicago was unelectable. They assembled their massive armoury, cashed in their chits and awaited the victory parade. Obama quietly but ruthlessly followed a stealth caucus and primary campaign that brilliantly leveraged Hillary’s inevitability against her. He made the first potential woman president look like the past. By the beginning of March, she was toast, although it took her a few more months to come to terms with it.

McCain never seemed to learn from the Clintons’ misjudgment of their rival. A key element of Obama’s strategy is classic rope-a-dope. He gets his opponents to splutter with irritation as “that one”, as McCain contemptuously described Obama in last Tuesday’s debate, glides towards them in the polls. He does his thing, raises masses of money, keeps his staff in perfect order and focuses on issues and themes. He can segue from the inspirational agent of change of the spring to the reassuring conventional pol of the autumn without anyone really noticing the seams. That takes political skill. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.Obama rarely directly attacks. He subtly baits. His most brilliant rope-a-dope of the entire campaign was against Bill Clinton in the spring. In a newspaper interview, Obama cited Ronald Reagan as the last transformational president. He didn’t mention Clinton. The former president was offended by being implicitly dissed, took the bait and unleashed a series of unwise public scoffs at the young Democrat, culminating in a dismissal of Obama as another Jesse Jackson. Suddenly, black Democrats abandoned Clinton’s wife, and the Clintons’ base collapsed. Obama merely stepped out of the way as the Clintons self-destructed. He didn’t just end their campaign; he helped to bury their reputation.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article4925049.ece

[Jennicut]

1. Obama has been underestimated throughtout this campaign

He really knows how to get a rival to simply do themselves in and then watches as they self destruct. Did he panic over Palin becoming the VP pick for McInsane? Nope. He stayed calm and steady. He is hard to throw off course.

[Faygo Kid]

67. He's even been misunderestimated.

A literate president would be a welcomed change.

[grantcart]

2. Yes it is a brilliant point and it is true

Obama has that Kennedy/FDR calm.

[1corona4u]

3. LOL, loved this...

..."and explodes on cue like a microwaved bag of popcorn." :rofl:

[Cha]

8. Yes, that was an excellent

analogy for mccain's temperament.

[CrispyQ]

68. That was my favorite too!

:rofl:

[ClarkUSA]

4. Sullivan was the first high-profile Obamacan journalist/blogger. He's been more loyal to Obama....

than most Democrats in the DNC and Congress since Obama announced his candidacy. And he's been absolutely brutal against McCain
and Palin. At this crucial time, Obama is well-served by having the top single-person blogger in the world on his side.

[asdjrocky]

5. What a great read.

Can't believe I agree 100% with Andrew Sullivan on something.

[MadMaddie]

6. Andrew has hit this one out of the ball park!

He is right Obama has been steady from the beginning. He has a staff that is disciplined and does not make mistakes.

3 Weeks to go and I predict that McCain will make at least 5 more huge blunders.

[Cha]

7. Wow! That was mesmerizing to

read ..having been there the whole time fighting for his candidacy every step of the way. At least just before Iowa, anyway.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. n/t

[BeFree]

10. Campaigns

....are testing grounds for who will make the best president.

So far Obama picked a VP who is a seasoned political veteran. He has directed a staff that has overcome the opposition, inspired millions to act, and keeps looking more and more presidential every day.

Mccain has picked a loon for VP, faltered at debates, flip-flopped at times and is running away from his own party. He looks less and less presidential as time goes by.

[starroute]

11. I've been watching him work his magic with the Clintons

The more they opposed Obama last spring and summer, the worse Hillary and Bill looked. But now, the more they support him, the more everybody loves them again. This latest Scranton outing with the Bidens has really had me shaking my head in amazement.

That isn't even Kennedy-style charisma. It's the ability to make whatever touches him look good and whatever opposes him look bad, and I don't know any name for it.

[jbnow]

33. But Sullivan got one thing wrong about the Clinton's. He said

Obama cited Ronald Reagan as the last transformational president. He didn’t mention Clinton. The former president was offended by being implicitly dissed

Even worse (or better, depending) he DID mention Clinton. He said Reagan had "changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not."

I knew Bill would not like that much! If Clinton hadn't done his little fairy tale rant and the crap with the lawsuit there in Nevada I think he'd have left Clinton's name out of it. It would still have been a dig but not a direct barb.

Obama was correct. Clinton did good things but the trajectory was not changed, we really went more to the right, more into deregulation, republicans got the house back...but there was no reason for him to name Clinton except to get at Bill. And he did.

Here is to changing the trajectory

[Mme. Defarge]

69. He has AUTHORITY

in its purist sense.

[lucky leftie]

87. The name for it? How about "imaginary?"

The Clintons looked just fine to 18 million voters during the primaries. Their appeal has nothing to do with Obama.

[graywarrior]

12. Excellent piece

[gratefultobelib]

13. Marvelous. I enjoyed every word.

[NC_Nurse]

14. "Beep, beep!" I can almost picture McLame with his ACME campaign kit.

Ka-BOOM! }(

[Mira]

15. How often can I recommend this??????

[senseandsensibility]

16. While I do like the article, I disagree with the last sentence

Obama is not a "valium." He has real strength and energy; he just doesn't need to show it all the time.

[TXDemGal]

22. Yes, you're so right on

and Sully is off in his last sentence. Overall it was a good, perceptive piece.

[SeattleGirl]

28. I liked the article, too, but didn't like the line, "That's how he

managed his mother." WTF? Makes it sound like he was a maniacal little shit when he was a kid, who had to "manage" his mother, as if SHE were out of control or something.

Other than picking that nit, I liked the article.

[senseandsensibility]

29. Yeah, I had to reread that sentence a couple of times

and decided to give Sullivan the benefit of the doubt, since the rest of the article was so good. But I still don't get it.

[quiet.american]

35. That line was weird, as though his own mother would be afraid of the African side of him...? nt

[nsd]

44. In that line, Sullivan is alluding to a passage from "Dreams from My Father".

Obama described in that passage how, as a teenager, he responded to his mother's worries about his drug use.

I had given her a reassuring smile and patted her hand and told her not to worry, I wouldn't do anything stupid. It was usually an effective tactic, another of those tricks I had learned: People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied; they were relieved—such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn’t seem angry all the time.

Obama's a complicated guy.

[yardwork]

58. My teenage sons manage me exactly the same way.

[stillcool]

64. I can't imagine

straddling that many strata's of life and coming out of it with such a strong self identity. His mom and his grandparents must have been something.

[nichomachus]

47. One of the tasks of being a teenager is learning how to "manage" your parents

Come on -- we all did it.

[Zuiderelle]

59. Yeah, but I wasn't a black child managing my "white mother"

Why mention that she was white? It definitely screams "Hey Barack is black and his mom was white." What's the point? We all know she was white. Other than to point out his ability to manage white people because of his experience with his white mother, I don't see the point. And if THAT is the point, then it IS racist.

I don't like the article. I like it less every time I read it.

[crispini]

37. Honey, I'm telling you, I *do* need a valium

and I think a lot of voters feel that way too. I get your point, Obama is anything but a downer, but heaven help us all, we need a cool hand right now and Obama sure is that.

[msallied]

80. Hear hear!

I got Sullivan's sentiment and I agree with it.

[4lbs]

39. I take it more as he was saying that America needs a calming influence right now,

and that's Obama.

:D

[sohndrsmith]

91. You're right. I have a problem with the very first sentence, though, too:

One thing I find so refreshing is that there is nothing unnatural about Obama's calmness. He's authentic, comfortable and comfortable with his abilities and integrity, and he makes that brilliantly clear.

Saying his calm is unnatural doesn't fit at all. What is sad is that we could be so inured to insincere theatrical passion that we don't know normal when we see it? I LOVE normal.... we need normal. Direct - free of the manipulative games. Obama is the only one capable of actual "straight talk" as far as I can tell.

So other than those two sentences, it's a great article.

[OKNancy]

17. oh and the nasty things DUers said about him

in the past. I guess this makes up a little for it.

[WinkyDink]

45. Just because Sullivan has written a perceptive piece on Obama doesn't mean he is a "good guy".

[ChiciB1]

78. If I Recall Correctly... He Once Was A Democrat... Then Switched To Something

else, Repuke perhaps. But I recall watching him AND Hitchins (Hitchens?) on C-Span a long time ago, and they sure talked like "socialists" to me. I enjoyed them way back when, but as time went by they really "sucked" and I just dismissed them.

Now, BOTH of them are supporting Obama. Weird! I KNOW Hitchins makes NO BONES about who and what he is, and he really ticks me off most of the time. However, he is an intelligent man even if he's an alcoholic! Many writers are alcoholics and gain great fame... I'm sure most of us can name quite a few, so I won't start a list.

[jonnyblitz]

50. yeah we DUers tend NOT to like right wing pieces of shit such as

Bareback Andy. Imagine that. :eyes:

[QC]

52. He deserved every one of those nasty things and more.

This is the guy who condemned alleged gay promiscuity in right wing venues every chance he got while seeking bareback sex online, and who warned in the aftermath of 9/11 that the decadent, treasonous left might mount a fifth column against America, and who cheered Bush's wars, back in the beginning, until his throat bled.

Just happening to support a Democrat for once does not absolve him of those things.

[stevedeshazer]

18. Excellent read, recommended. It takes a smart guy to outfox the Clintons.

[Zuiderelle]

19. It has some good bits, but I find it very insulting.

Besides saying that the last debate was last Thursday, and that the VP debate somehow occurred prior to the first Presidential debate (doesn't anyone proofread for him?)... he says that Obama "managed" his white mother, and paints him as manipulative and conniving throughout the article.

And he closes by calling Obama a valium. "They need a Valium. They can now vote for one for president." I'm not voting for a valium, I'm voting for someone who inspires me and gives me hope. Valium doesn't do that. Valium numbs you.

Yes, Obama is calm and in control. And, yes, that's exactly what we need right now. But I do not like the subtle way that Sullivan insults him.

No, I don't like this piece much.

[senseandsensibility]

20. I agree (see my post above)

and I didn't "get" the white mother reference either.

[PeaceNikki]

60. That "managed his white mother" rubs me wrong, too.

:\

[ShortnFiery]

21. Excellent commentary. eom

[StreetKnowledge]

23. Can't say I disagree.

And now, what's better for all of us, is imagining how skilled this guy is going to be as President. :D If he's this slick and composed in an election campaign, imagine how well he's going to go as POTUS.

[BrklynLiberal]

24. I like the comment by the Irish guy

"I have no desire to live in a socialistic nation."
I am sick and tired of hearing Americans talking like this. Do any of them know what "socialistic" is?
It seems to me that many Americans would rather have Jesus and a rifle than a job, a sound ecomony and healthcare.

Peter, Dublin, Ireland

[crossroads]

25. Great read! Obama is charmed and so very clever! K&R

He will make an excellent president - one that we can be proud of! I can't wait for this election to be over so we can get that idiot * out of the WH! It's been soooo long since I felt any pride in a president!
CR

[eleny]

26. This comment to the article is priceless...

"It seems to me that many Americans would rather have Jesus and a rifle than a job, a sound economy and health care."

Isn't that the truth!

[ecstatic]

27. He had me until the middle of the third paragraph

Obama didn't purposely set out to cause Bill Clinton to implode, and that really didn't have much to do with why the Clintons lost black support. Once Obama won 2+ primaries, the shift was inevitable. Really, it wouldn't have mattered what Clinton did.

[writes3000]

31. You are correct.

Once the black community saw that Obama could win and started to really listen to his message, it was almost inevitable that they would flock to him.

Because Obama appeals to hope and emotion better than most other politicians.

[fortyfeetunder]

30. I love it! "Rope-a-Dope"

Well Andrew, it's more like "Rope-Two-Dopes"

[volstork]

32. Thanks for the post

and for the link. Great piece!

[Quixote1818]

34. Sullivan is a great writer. He should write a novel because that reads beautifully. nt

[quiet.american]

36. I hope the Clintons don't read this. :) nt

[trashcanistanista]

38. Sullivan nails it.

[Kittycat]

40. Thank you. Excellent read.

I'm off to share it on my debate board.

[firedupdem]

41. The article was very good but I had to go back and read the

line about him managing his mother a few times myself. Also, I don't know if Obama set out to make Bill Clinton say the weird stuff he did. I do know that my husband was totally behind Hillary until Bill made those comments.

[Prophet 451]

42. Sulli's coming around

Arianna Huffington was once on the extreme-right, so was David Brock but over time, they realised how wrong they were and tried to set things right. Scott McClellan is going through the same process at the moment.

About this time last year, I said that I could see the germ of the same awakening in Sullivan's writing at the time. He's not there yet but he defends Obama and with Obama come Obama's ideas and ideals and slowly, gradually, Sullivan is starting to realise how humane and appealing those ideas are. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

[Zhade]

43. An undeserved reputation, at that.

It's true, Obama is very good at this.

[K Gardner]

46. "They need a Valium.. they can now vote for one for President." Indeed ! K&R

[underpants]

48. "rope-a-dope" I been saying this since August

very good article. Obama shocked the Clinton/DLC/and DC media by "winning" the first primary (fundraising) and once he got in front she could get around him. THEN he rope-a-doped McCain in August leaving him, as even Kristol agrees now, flailing and tired.

[Patiod]

49. I bet Obama is consciously aware of the rope-a-dope analogy

[Ichingcarpenter]

51. Sullivan is using H20man's metaphors we've read here for months

Great article but Sullivan's economic philosophies are still the failed republican/libertarian
viewpoints that have been discredited. I think he did a good historical analysis of what
Obama has done so far.

[Stump]

53. Great piece...

K&R

[live love laugh]

54. "Rope a Dope"? Sports analogy? I find that racist in some ways.

Of all the parallels that could have been chosen, to choose sports and a black sports figure to explain Obama's style is at best, too easy, and at worst racist. Aren't there other examples besides ones already closely associated with blacks that would have served the same purpose?

[ClarkUSA]

55. Oh please. It's a boxing term and perfectly apt.

:eyes:

[noiretextatique]

56. sullivan has some racial issues

some think he's recovering now, but i am not so sure.

[Whisp]

62. oiy.

:rofl:

[Bucky]

72. Don't you think that's a little bit of a stretch?

You remind me of a poster here a few weeks ago who thought it was racist that someone said Obama "kept his cool" during the first debate. As if emotional detachment was common slur against minorities.

If you have to work that hard to see a connection to racism, it's not there.

[quantass]

57. Great Article!

[thereismore]

61. Brilliant piece. Valium, yeah. Mother's little helper. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

63. I had a conversation with a reporter recently on this same topic

He said he was most impressed with Obama and how he stays calm. Because as soon as he gets mad, the image of an angry black man will just ruin his chances of winning.

[uberblonde]

65. Yes, it's absolutely peachy...

That he successfully smeared the Clintons as racist! Wow, that's really something to admire!

[lucky leftie]

71. Sullivan never misses a chance...

...to snipe at the Clintons. I guess he resents the fact that the Clintons win elections.

[Binka]

82. Clinton Lost Her Primary To Obama So Your Point Is?

You and your friend up-thread can get a room but Obama kicked Hillary's ass and he is our candidate. Obama won that election. And your point is? Sully is pointing out the obvious. How is that resenting the Clinton's? FAIL. EPIC.

[lucky leftie]

85. Awwww, that baby is adorable.

My point is, Sullivan hates the Clintons because he is a conservative republican; and republicans hate the Clintons because the Clintons beat them in elections. Period. I said nothing disparaging about Obama so get a grip.

[Binka]

88. My Grip Is Fine

Yours, I am not sure. Thanks for playing.

[democracy1st]

66. K & R

[Orsino]

70. Meh. Old news.

We've known for a long time now about Obama's imperturbability, and about McCain's erratic and temperamental demeanor. Sullivan is late with this observation, and is incorrectly crediting Obama's calm with causing the McCain flubs that were predestined.

Sully is constructing a narrative here just because it sounds good, and isn't providing brilliant insight.

[Bucky]

73. He really loathes the Clintons, doesn't he? I wonder what the deal is.

It ain't natural.

[lucky leftie]

75. Yep.

Sullivan hates the Clintons because they whoop his party every time.

[KoKo]

84. Remember...Sully was always a Conservative and they ALL still HATE

the Clintons...they consider them "filthy vermin who defiled the WH." Just because Sully is intelligent enough to see the Repugs have ruined America doesn't mean he is isn't a conservative Repug. He's just trying to dig his way out of the hole he's in because he's smart enough to see that Chimperor has made a mess and chaos out of everthing he touches. He's a rat running from the sinking ship...

[lucky leftie]

86. I know.

I find it strange to see Sullivan quoted on liberal blogs. Sullivan was a cheerleader for Bush and Co. and the fact that he has a crush on our nominee doesn't alter the fact that like so many others in the media, he was wrong about this administration.

And in reading his article, it occured to me that his admiration for Obama may have something to do with Obama's disparaging of Clinton and/or his touting the GOP as the "party of ideas."

[KoKo]

89. Interesting point...adding "Caution" as to whether we believe these folks have "Turned"

or are just "Psyching us on the Left out..." Who knows? But, thanks much for your perspective on these "Repug Turn Coats" ...like rats jumping from "ship." What "ship" are they really jumping from. That "cheese" glimmers on their "foodie horizon" and whether it comes from Dems or Repugs doesn't much matter as long as they SURVIVE. :-( It truly is something to think about.

[lucky leftie]

74. I just realized something.

Sullivan LOVES the fact that Obama dissed Bill Clinton and praised Saint Reagan. Could that explain Sully's crush on Obama? Sullivan HATES the Clinton's, possibly because they whoop his party in elections.

Whatever the case, Sullivan is a right-wing jackass and no friend to democrats, no matter how much he fawns on our current candidate.

[Bucky]

76. But at least...

he's better than Hitch

[lucky leftie]

77. That's not saying much, though .

I haven't seen Hitch lately but the last time I did, he was completely out of touch with reality, defending the Iraq War.

[Jefferson23]

79. Outstanding, he nails it big time!

[EmeraldCityGrl]

81. [e-mail]

I emailed him this weekend to let him know how much I appreciate his thoughts.
Wish he had a discussion forum on his website.

Lovely man.

[KoKo]

83. Where's H20Man....he would love this post from Sully. It's what he was

telling us about Obama long ago.

It's a little OTT for me...not being a boxing fan...but it does make much sense.

[KoKo]

90. Kick!