E. J. Dionne: The Obama Standard

[babylonsister]

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081103_the_obama_standard/

The Obama Standard

Posted on Nov 3, 2008
By E.J. Dionne


A good politician triumphs by adapting to the times and taking advantage of opportunities as they come. A great politician anticipates openings others don’t see and creates possibilities that were not there before.

John McCain might have been the second kind of politician, tried to be the first, and enters Election Day at a steep disadvantage. Barack Obama certainly seized the opportunities created by President Bush’s failures and the country’s profound discontent, which only deepened after the economic crash. But by creating a new social movement, new forms of political organization, and a sense of excitement and possibility not felt in politics for three decades, he bids to become one of the country’s most consequential leaders.

snip//

Obama understood better than any other Democrat that a vast new progressive movement, called into being by antipathy to Bush and outrage over the Iraq war, was waiting for leadership. Yet Obama knew that the often irate legions of the blogosphere needed to be fused with a soft-spoken center weary of partisanship and division. It was another unlikely marriage that Obama sanctified.

All this created Obama’s opportunity. But every campaign offers make-or-break moments of testing, and the key moment this time came on Sept. 24, the day McCain suspended his campaign and proposed postponing the first presidential debate so the candidates could devote themselves to work on the financial bailout.

Obama quickly rejected McCain’s suggestion, McCain backed down, and Obama established himself as a leader. When the debate took place two days later, Obama’s calm, deliberate performance confirmed his leadership skills for millions in the ranks of the uncertain.

If any candidate’s recent past stands as a warning against premature obituaries, it is McCain’s. But there seems to be an inexorable quality to Obama’s rise this year because he is the first truly 21st-century figure in American politics. He is the innovator who has set the standard for the next political era.

[pretzel4gore]

1. local hate radio is gloating that Barack is 'not very extreme liberal''

and that says we libs are gonna be let down by his careful, easy centrist type step by step approach to the mess he inherits- Obama isn't stupid, iow! No shit sherlock! from ALL i've heard, most progressives expect Obama to do whatever's necessary to 'save the day' in effect: how he does it will be up to him. There simply aint any choice here, and Obama can fail or succeed, but hate radio etc will keep on hating....you can bank on that

[babylonsister]

2. You're kidding, right? First he was 'the' most liberal Democrat, now

he won't be liberal enough (for us)? Poor Obama can't win with them. That's pretty funny.