Chris Cillizza: "Politicians are usually motivated by self-interest."

[polichick]

In talking with Keith Olbermann about Bill Clinton's support of Obama (such as it is), Chris made this assertion about politicians.


Do you think Barack Obama is just as motivated by self-interest as most politicians, or do you think his quest for the presidency is about something else? Just wondering.

(I want to believe that his motivation is much bigger than self-interest.)

[blondeatlast]

1. Why is he asking about Obama? As an Arizonan, I know McSame's been running for

president for 25 years.

I find that curious; of course self-interest is involved. Self -interest is involved in everything, isn't it? :shrug:

[polichick]

3. No, he was talking about Clinton getting behind the nominee - I'm asking about Obama.

[blondeatlast]

6. My simple answer is both, But I've been a political wonk since before I knew

there was a good term for it!

Let's face it, it takes a strong ego to run for president and I'm not saying that in a "bad" way. On an entirely subconscious level you just have to have incredible self-confidence. Where one's emotions lead one form there is the question.

You didn't ask, but I'll compare the candidates; McCain almost thinks he's "entitled" to be president; I think to some degree Obama thinks that because of his hard work, he may have been destined to do so--again, in the best possible way.

[polichick]

10. I'm with you in that I don't see these two guys being similarly motivated.

[pscot]

2. Whoa! Breaking news.

Who will tell the voters?

[polichick]

4. So, Obama has the same motivations as any of them?

[FrenchieCat]

5. I think that Obama is motivated in the fact that he strongly feels that

he can govern to make a difference.

I don't think that it is so much about him.

If it were, he would have accepted that Supreme Court Clerkship after graduating out of Harvard Law School and having been the first African American President of the Harvard Law Review.

Instead he went into Civil Rights law.

Nothing in his career points to his being where he is was based on self promotion or self interest.

Although I do believe that he does have an ego, I believe that it is there in a healthy dose of confidence required to run for the highest office in the land while Black.

[polichick]

7. Good points - thanks!

[Demit]

8. I think that's such a generalization that it is meaningless. Aren't you motivated by self-interest?

If someone asked you that question about you, how would you respond? Of course, in some ways you are! In other ways, you are bigger than your self-interest. Wouldn't you need for your questioner to be more specific?

[polichick]

9. I suppose "self-interest" can be seen to have a number of meanings...

Cillizza suggested that Bill Clinton would take part in the campaign because it's best for HIM, for his standing and legacy.

In many ways it seems to me that Obama's run for the presidency goes against his self-interest, since he's put himself and his loved ones at great physical risk and turned his treasured family life upside down.

[Demit]

12. Anybody throughout history, in any endeavor, weighs their sacrifice of personal life against

what is to be gained. Obama's no different. How he differs from Bill Clinton is in the fact that Clinton already has had his run, and is already in the history books. He's looking to preserve something. Obama's glory is ahead of him.

[polichick]

13. So he's doing it for personal glory, rather than for the greater good?

[Demit]

23. I don't know and neither do you. I imagine it's a mix of the two.

You seem to have the idea I am trying to denigrate Obama. I'm not. I'm pointing out that people strive for something, accepting the downsides, because they want to personally accomplish that thing. There are those who work hard, and happily, to support someone else accomplishing it, and there are those who feel that they are the ones to do it. If they are successful—whether it be at climbing Mt. Everest or becoming president of the United States—that is an achievement and they are now in the history books. Of course there is glory in it.

[JoFerret]

11. They ALL are

some have variations on a theme and the best democrats have distinct variations on that theme. But it is still true.

[polichick]

14. In Obama's case, how much is about "self-interest" or personal gain...

...and how much is about feeling called to be part of fulfilling our national potential? That's what I'm wondering about.

[JoFerret]

17. My guess is...

...in about the same proportion as other "good" politicians (and people). Including Clintons.

[Cha]

15. The self interest politicians

have certainly been the rule but that doesn't mean there can't be exceptions.

NOthing is straight across the board the same where humans are concerned.

And, if you look at Obama's history there is a pattern of helping people.

All I know is he came a long at a good time. He won the primary and he's going to win the GE after 8 years of the most corrupt, self interested OIL men and women on the Planet Earth.

[polichick]

18. Yeah, the timing is really interesting...

Bush was the catalyst this country needed to WAKE THE HELL UP ~ and then in 2004 this little-known guy from Illinois gives a speech that leads to his being, more or less, drafted to run at this moment.

I see Obama as being very comfortable in his own skin ~ but also having a sense that he is supposed to be doing what he is doing, that he's part of a movement much bigger than him. There's a confidence and trust that things are unfolding as they should be, rather than the typical anxious striving.

[Cha]

19. Yes!

"I see Obama as being very comfortable in his own skin ~ but also having a sense that he is supposed to be doing what he is doing, that he's part of a movement much bigger than him. There's a confidence and trust that things are unfolding as they should be, rather than the typical anxious striving."

And there are others in our Senate and Congress, too, who are there not so much for themselves but because they have a calling.

[polichick]

25. Hopefully in November we'll send a few more to DC who have a calling to serve the people...

...and replace some of the dead weight who are motivated by cashing in on lobbyist favors!

[jobycom]

16. Of course he's motivated by self-interest. Doesn't mean he doesn't have other motivations, though.

It takes a certain level of greed and arrogance to run for the presidency. Even Carter was reputed to have a touch of Machiavellian megalomania at times. But I don't question that Carter had a sincere desire to achieve his ideals, and to make the world a better place. There's no reason Obama can't have the same motivations. People are complex. Obama is complex.

[polichick]

20. Carter is one of my favorites...

I think he was way ahead of his time in the way he thought about energy, the Middle East and human rights ~ but I have read about that other side of him. I love that both he and Gore won the Nobel Prize!

[jobycom]

21. Carter is one of my heroes. Very short list.

Him and Jesse Jackson. Living, I mean.

[WeDidIt]

22. I've wanted to see Obama as president since I first heard him speak on 10/2/02

Obama is just like any other politician. He is motivated by his own self interests.

This is why he will not filibuster FISA. If he does, he hands an issue to the GOP to use against him.

[Inuca]

24. It depends on how you define self-interest

in a way, I think we are all motivated by self-interest, from Hitler to Mother Theresa. Self-interest does not have to mean money, or naked ambition, etc. To me it means acting toward something that is important to you, gives you a sense of personal fulfillment. For some this means focusing on others, their needs, service to others, rather than one's personal material betterment.

[polichick]

26. True - in this case Cillizza seemed to use the word in the sense of...

...doing something for selfish reasons, suggesting that Bill Clinton would participate in the campaign even though he doesn't want to because it will help his reputation.

Just made me wonder if it always comes down to that kind of self-interest for politicians.

[Inuca]

27. About your last sentence

no, I do not think it does. Often, even usually, but not always. And I hope that Obama is indeed one of those few.