From the Washington Post:
For a candidate who began as a novice on the national stage, Obama proved remarkably steady, anchored and unruffled. Those personal attributes, if they are indicative of presidential character, could provide the ballast that any administration needs when turbulence hits -- as it did at various times during the campaign. His temperament as a candidate suggests a president not given to highs and lows, and his campaign foreshadows a White House more orderly than those of the two most recent Democratic presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
When others doubted his candidacy in the summer and fall of 2007, Obama stayed true to the course he and his advisers had set at the start of the campaign. When he suffered setbacks at the hands of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in this year's primaries, he made readjustments without rancor and kept moving forward. When the financial markets cratered in September, and Sen. John McCain scurried in different directions in response, the measured reaction by Obama and his campaign helped persuade doubters about his fitness to be president.
I've heard much talk that Obama is untested and inexperienced, however, I believe that the masterful manner in which he ran his campaign, during which he was tested rather severely, both during the primaries and during the campaign, actually may be a rather good predictor of how he will govern. I hope that it is, because as time passed, I was more and more impressed with him each day.
If a president goes into office as an agent of change, it is helpful if that person can inspire us and move us by his words and his manner of speaking. Obama is a gifted man, and I hope he will live up to the trust we have placed in him.
He will take office with the good will and good wishes of the majority in the country, but also with the ill will and even hatred of a minority. I pray that those of good will and even those of ill will may give him a chance to demonstrate what he will do as president and not to over-expect about what he can accomplish in the short term. The Bush maladministration leaves us with a terrible mess to clean up, and the fix will not be quick or easy. I pray for the patience of the citizenry and the press in the early days of the Obama administration. Obama administration - that has a fine ring to it, doesn't it? I hope that I may retire "maladministration".
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Book of Common Prayer] page 824
Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that President Obama has the internal makings of a great President. It may not happen, but I believe it will. He will historically be remembered alongside of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and FDR as one of the great ones, who turned this country in a new direction, seeking loftier and higher goals, determined to bring equality and justice to all people and a renewed community interest. I hope I am right.
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined to agree with Feather. I'm very impressed with the way that he handled his campaign and himself. I started out as a skeptic, but became more impressed with him as his campaign went on, the way he handled set-backs, attacks, and especially the business crash, a major test even before he won the race. I see the potential makings of a great president. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteAs for the experience thing, I think being a community activist, a law professor, and a state senator in Illinois are much better preparation than umpteen years in the US Senate. There's a country clubbish quality to the Senate that tends to set Senators apart from their unwashed constituents,and that makes them think of their office - a public trust - as a kind of personal sinecure; Joe Liebermann anyone?
As Matt Frei at the BBC remarked, Hillary Clinton went to the owners of the search engines and web networks to understand the politcal possibilities of the Internet. Obama went straight to their customers.
Long tenure in the Senate seems to cause damage to senators who are not well-centered. I agree that it's not good a prep school for being president.
ReplyDeleteObama ran a brilliant campaign. I'm still in awe.