May 20 2009
What do we really know about President Obama?
President Obama has been in office for four months, so it is time to evaluate what we really know about him from his actions.
People who voted for him thought they knew him. Either they were reading his books, and liked the man they saw there, or wanted a change from Bush, so they voted for the man they thought was the farthest from Bush. Did the voters get what they wanted? The jury is still out, but here is what we know:
He talks with big words. Ever listen to one of his press conferences? He uses phrases like “cap and trade” and “ruthless pragmatism” to describe his positions or plans. The truth is, the vast majority of people don’t understand what these phrases mean. He is aloof and composed in his press conferences. He speaks a language that encourages you to trust him, without ever telling you what he is doing. Cap and trade can mean a lot of different things to different people, depending on their world view. Where does President Obama stand? No idea. His speeches are filled with big words and phrases that don’t say a whole lot. But this is the type of speaker that he has always been. Never committing to anything, other than general principles.
He is ruthless. He even describes his economic position as “ruthless pragmatism.” When he seeks something, he gets what he wants. If you are a helpful advisor, you can stick around. If you are not helpful, or smack of scandal (except tax scandals, those he likes), you are shown the door irregardless of loyalty issues.
He has elevated listening to a high moral position. Listening is a good skill, but it isn’t the high moral ground. The high moral ground involves making decisions based on principles, not listening to debates and all sides. He wants to be a mediator, and so he listens. But what else does he do? He lets the parties battle it out, but claims to be a mediator because he listens to both sides. That’s not a mediator. That’s a spectator. Presidents cannot be spectators in domestic politics, they have to be participants.
He is also over-confidant. The word from the inside is that he revels in personally directing the futures of GM and Chrystler. Presidents are not CEOs of companies while they are in office, but this President sees himself as able to juggle not only his daily duties, but the CEO responsibilities of GM and Chrystler.
It is unlikely that the President can stand alone on the issues of foriegn relations (where he has no experience) and other issues. While he might be able to try and make the future decisions of GM and Chrystler, he cannot stand alone on other areas. His self-acknowledged brilliance makes him over-confident and unwilling to give up the position of leader and performer to anyone else. People at the White House either play no role (think Jim Jones) or play a different role from what they are supposed to play (think Larry Summers). This means President Obama is being the director of the play, as well as the star actor. No one can do that for long without making mistakes.
Here’s the really interesting thing we’ve seen about the President: he’s almost cruel and is self-congratulatory. At the White House Correspondent’s Dinner his jokes about others bordered on cruel, rather than funny. However, his jokes about himself were all about how much people like him, or want to be him. That really is a telling moment. Let’s hope his overconfidence doesn’t doom America to bad decisions.
