NEWSWEEK: The sides we're just starting to see
Barack Obama began his presidency with an unusual attribute, namely that the country already thought it understood him. The story he told in his two books was about a man of multiple worlds who comes to terms with his father's abandonment and a confounding racial identity. Obama resolves his anger by committing himself socially, religiously and eventually politically. He depicts his mature self as unusually able to see other points of view and bridge chasms.
The protagonist of these books is a persuasive and appealing character—so much so that he left little demand for alternative explanations. As time goes by, though, Obama's Obama feels less satisfying. It's not that the author's projection of himself is distorted in any obvious way, but that it leaves too much unexplained—his ambition, his aloofness, his fundamental beliefs. It's too soon to offer an interpretation of our president. But after four months in office, here are some emerging themes.
He sees the middle ground as high ground.
Candidates who talk about bringing people together or changing the tone in Washington are usually blowing happy smoke. But Obama's focus on reconciliation is clearly more than shtik. We saw this impulse at work when he made preemptive concessions on his stimulus package in an effort to win Republican support. We saw it when, at the G20 summit, he personally brokered a compromise between the French and Chinese presidents over international tax havens. Every few days, Obama tries for a "new beginning"—with Iran, Cuba, the Muslim world, Paul Krugman. Engaging with opponents animates him more than hanging with friends.
This is a wonderful instinct that is bettering America's image and making domestic politics more civil. But listening, and seeking compromise, is not a moral stance. Elevating it to one merely highlights the question of what Obama really stands for.
The consensus-seeker repudiates torture but doesn't want to investigate it; he endorses gay equality but not in marriage or the military; he thinks government's role is to do whatever works. I continue to suspect him of harboring deeper convictions. He's the decider. Really. >>> Jacob Weisberg | Saturday, May 16, 2009
Hat tip: Always On Watch >>>
