Krugman says Obama is WYSIWYG, if you’re paying any attention. Of course, he’s right – he usually is. But it’s surely also true that Obama’s oratorical style and general demeanor during the election campaign allowed others to see in him what they wanted to see. He was all about aspirations and he was all about you. I was struck by this when I saw him in person at Rhode Island College in the middle of the primary fight. Obama doesn’t refer to himself a lot (unless he’s doing the biographical thing). At least some of his supporters were set up to be disappointed, however unintentionally, because Obama gave them a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings. I empathize with them some, but not all that much. Not all of us put on blinders – during the speech, when Obama said something like “you may not agree with me on every issue” a voice called out “Afghanistan!!!”. Now there’s a guy who was paying attention.
A political leader should put pragmatism before ideology and accomplishment over acting on principle. The health care bill sucks but still, it ain’t nothing. I say keep Obama, get rid of the Senate. Not kidding.
