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Obama is Special, Seriously

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Fri Sep 22, 2006 at 06:03:12 PM EST
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(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

Reading my posts (here, here and here) that touch on Barack Obama you might get the impression I do not like him. To the contrary, I see in Barack Obama a potentially transforming politician. Noam Scheiber gets it:

I like John Edwards. I think he's a well-intentioned guy with good ideas and considerable charms. But he's no Barack Obama. Spend a little time with each of them and you quickly realize there's no comparison between the two men's intellects--Obama is much smarter and has a much more sophisticated view of politics. Edwards is charismatic, but Obama is far more so. (Just compare their performances at the 2004 Democratic convention.) And, unlike Edwards, Obama spent years grappling with public policy issues before he got to the U.S. Senate--first as a community organizer in Chicago, then as a constitutional lawyer and state senator. Except for the last, none of that is a knock on Edwards. Obama is easily more intelligent, sophisticated, and charismatic than 99 percent of the politicians I've come across. (Bill Clinton is the only one I can think of who combines all three talents in similar proportions.)

I concur. Edwards is terrific. Obama is one in a generation. That is why it frustrates me so when he makes the mistakes that he does. I scold him because I love him . .

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    • Obama is Special, Seriously | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#3)
    by The Heretik on Fri Sep 22, 2006 at 07:19:42 PM EST
    Yeah, he was great at the convention. But The Player gets played a little too often for my liking.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 22, 2006 at 08:28:18 PM EST
    He's still learning. We have been discussing all this talk about our Senator lately. People love him. He was great here and I think one of the biggest problems he faces in the Senate is not having a real voice. He's low man on the list. In bad committees and the very Jr. Senator. So, I think he is trying to find not just his voice on a national stage but, trying to define himself there with all the big names and Senior members. He also has alot of pressure to perform. People expect him to change the world and take the Senate his first year and don't understand the pecking order, the egos and working your way up in assignments and getting your due. First you have to pay it.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#2)
    by cmpnwtr on Fri Sep 22, 2006 at 08:28:18 PM EST
    I've been impressed with Obama, and equally distressed by his stupid political mistakes, his public navel gazing, instead of sending a confident clear vision of what this country can be. He needs work. He's not ready for prime time without some mentoring.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 22, 2006 at 08:28:18 PM EST
    Not to mention that Edwards is a plaintiffs' lawyer and Obama is not.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 22, 2006 at 08:28:18 PM EST
    So he is one in a generation, yet goofs a lot? I like the guy, be talk to do ratio is hard to take. Also, the idea that anyone is in a position to rank the intelligence of Edwards, Obama, and Clinton is a bit rich for this dude.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#9)
    by Andreas on Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 12:52:10 AM EST
    In an interview with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune published September 26 [2004], Democratic Senate candidate Barack Obama said he would favor the use of "surgical" missile strikes against Iran if it failed to bow to Washington's demand that it eliminate its nuclear energy program. Obama also said that, in the event of a coup that removed the Musharraf regime in Pakistan, the US should attack that nation's nuclear arsenal. Obama, the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, is being hailed as a "rising star" in the Democratic Party. ... The African-American Democrat is being groomed for national leadership. His speech at the Democratic convention, a homily on hard work, individual responsibility and the American dream, would have been well received at a Republican convention not so many years ago. But in 2004, Obama is passed off as a "progressive" politician.
    Democratic keynote speaker Barack Obama calls for missile strikes on Iran By Tom Mackaman, 1 October 2004

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#10)
    by Dadler on Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 09:07:16 AM EST
    He's still lacking what every other politician in this nation is: imagination. The ability to create, to make new things. A personality is grand, without imagination it's nothing but a facade. When he starts talking about REAL ways to get things done, I'll buy it. For instance, when he starts talking about religion as a representation of the unfathomable mystery of existence we are all burdened with as rational creatures, whether we are religious or not (thus reaching out to the other side as no one has done before) then I'll start to have some faith in his ability to really bring people together. Right now I hear a lot of noise from him. Nice noise. But just noise at this point.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 12:20:28 PM EST
    Aye Dadler, after he talks about that, then he has to convince other people that he is not dissing the "unfathomable mystery of existence" they believe in and worship. After all, a great majority of Americans call themselves Christians. He is not Hofts-whatisname enough for Big Tent either since he is yet to redefine the "middle". People, just give the guy a break, will ya? He can't be everything to everyone. And news flash; no one can!

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 12:26:27 PM EST
    There is no fact presented by Noam Scheiber that in any way supports his opinion - and, in fact, it is just an opinion - that Barack Obama is in any way smarter or more sophisticated than John Edwards. The fact that Obama was a community organizer and a State Senator does indeed mean that he had more exposure to public policy when he walked into the US Senate than the amount of public policy experience Edwards had when he was elected to office. But how is that a referendum on Edwards' or Obama's intelligence? Edwards was one of the top lawyers in the country. Voted by Lawyer's Weekly as one of the top 8 in USA and he is widely recognized as the most successful Lawyer in the history of North Carolina. Now, Obama doesn't have any such historic/nationwide achievements to boast of (except that he was the Editor of the Harvard Law Review) in his career prior to entering politics. In fact, before the Senate race (where he had no credible challenger to begin with), he lost a congressional race. If he has always been so charismatic, shouldn't he have won? But does that reflect poorly on his intelligence? By Scheiber's logic, your experience is somehow a measure of your intelligence. That is a flawed rationale. Intelligence is innate (at least the cognitive kind that I believe is being debated here), wisdom and experience can be gained and are valuable. I have watched Obama give speeches and he is great. And then, I have watched him in Sunday morning interviews, and he has largely been unimpressive, if not a dud. Hence, my point: What is Scheiber's evidence for grading Obama's intelligence higher than Edwards'? There is no such evidence. The fact is that these are two very smart men. Who is smarter? Lord knows. They are both so new to politics, and have come so far in small time, that it is hard to judge the two yet. I think both sides would agree that we, as observers, know very little of either Obama or Edwards. They are men whose personalities have made them national icons, and while their intelligence is not something one can dispute, it is also not something that one can rate just yet. Intelligence is tested under fire. And the truth is that Obama hasn't been under fire yet, while Edwards, who won case after case in front of juries, knows very well the meaning of thinking fast and coherently on your feet. Howard Fineman called John Edwards a "congenial genius" after talking to him on the campaign trail, while the DesMoinesRegister editorial board said that having talked to Edwards often, they decided to endorse him because he had a "sophisticated intelligence" they had never seen in politics before. What does all this mean? These opinions, I guess are just as valid as Scheiber's. But at the end of the day - they are all opinions. I must say though that if Scheiber was being fair, then he would also have noticed Edwards' biographical highlights besides Obama's local political experience. Some of which are: After graduating from Law School in his class' top ten, he became the youngest member ever to be inducted into the Inner Circle of Advocates - an organization of the top 50 trial lawyers in the country. He was a member of the American Bar Association. He was master of the Chief Justice Susie M. Sharp Inns of Court. He was on the board of Governors and Veep of the NC Trial Lawyers Academy. He was one of the Board of Directors of the University of North Carolina Law School Alumni Association. So on, so forth. The fact is that both Edwards and Obama chose different, though related, ways to employ their intellects and talents. But there is no indication in their careers to suggest that one should be rater higher than the other when it comes to intelligence. In fact, if we are talking about success and competence, then Edwards has been by far the more successful of these two guys. "Everyone's talking about John Edwards' intellect, charisma and energy. To be honest, I resent him myself." - Paraphrasing Bill Clinton at the 04 DNC convention. I guess Clinton needs lessons on grading intellects. I am sorry for the verbosity, but I am ticked by Scheiber's careless presentation of his opinion as a fact.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 12:26:27 PM EST
    Look. Ok. O Bama is charismatic and smart...two qualities in short supply among politicians. On the other hand, he keeps saying stupid things that reiterate Republican talking points at the expense of his peers. What he says gets him noticed but adds little value to anything but his public persona and he doesn't so much discuss things as lecture everybody. He's the new kid on the block; he doesn't have the right to lecture anyone. In short, he grandstands and needs some humility. There's arrogance about O Bama.

    Re: Obama is Special, Seriously (none / 0) (#8)
    by cpinva on Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 12:26:27 PM EST
    sorry, i've not been all that impressed with mr. obama. call me picky, but anyone supposedly that sharp doesn't go around making obviously stupid mistakes, in public. perhaps it's the result of suddenly finding himself in a national limelight, whatever. why don't we get serial here, and maybe think 2012?

    Obama is Special, Seriously | 11 comments (11 topical)