If Joe Klein’s report of President-Elect Barack Obama’s first press conference after his election on Tuesday is to be believed:
–he did not stray from or change a single position that he took during the course of the campaign. He emphasized his previous stated desire for the passage of a second stimulus package. He was very matter of fact and not very emotional when discussing the economic crisis. There was no “Don’t you worry, now…” component to his initial statement, which was a bit disconcerting–to me, at least.
–he was not lured into any speculative answers. He was properly cautious in response to the Ahmadinejad letter congratulating him on his victory and, by emphasizing his opposition to Iran’s nuclear program–and its support for terrorist groups–Obama conveyed a continuity appropriate for a President-elect.
–His answers were crisp and brief.
then we’ll be faced with a different sort of man as president than we’ve had for quite a few years. Note, too, that he waited several days following his election before giving his first press conference.
It’s hard to speculate with so little data but I suspect he’s not quite as gregarious as either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush, he’s keenly aware that every move and every word is being scrutinized, and he feels he’s already been bitten by a hipshot remark or two.
I suspect we’ll see far fewer FOB’s (Friends of Barack) than we did FOB’s (Friends of Bill).
He’s also the first intellectual elected to the presidency in almost a century, since Woodrow Wilson in 1912. I suspect there will be a period of adjustment not the least on the part of the press.
Woodrow Wilson. Ouch.
“He’s also the first intellectual elected to the presidency in almost a century, since Woodrow Wilson in 1912.”
I guess that would depend on how one defines “intellectual”… I mean, Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar.
Do you know any Rhodes Scholars, tom p? I do. A high school classmate of mine, the son of an old family friend, was a Rhodes Scholar. He was in the middle of our class academically.
Rhodes Scholarships are not awarded primarily on the basis of academic achievements but on the basis of political skills.
The Wilson analogy is one worth exploring (to the degree any of them are, which is not much). Wilson also was a president without much practical political experience, and thus without a political base except among the people. That gave him a tendency to take his battles directly to the people, and it lent his presidency its faintly messianic odor. The results for popular liberties were not good, but that mostly happened after the stroke disabled him.