"The Two Obama's" and Obama's Chicago Style Politics

David Brook's excellent article The Two Obama's does an excellent job laying out how Senator Obama talks reform and inspiration, but plays old school politics as well as anyone out there...

"God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson..."

"...But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes..."

Brooks goes on to explain Obama's history of old school politics. That he is smart and calculating, and has laid out a path for himself that any old-school Chigago politician would be proud of...

"...Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.

And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.

Full David Brook's article The Two Obama's

Bush Obama A Substantive Comparison

Obviously the Dems strategy this year is to link McCain to Bush, and use an unpopular presidency to drag down McCain's popularity. There is a certain amount of irony to this since Bush and McCain have been political rivals for quite some time; and that in 2000 McCain was targetted by Bush and Rove and particularly dirty and underhanded way. However, the stategy remains to connect these two in the eyes of the public.

However, a more substantive comparison would be Obama 2008 and Bush 2000. There is a similarity to their campaigns. 'A uniter and not a divider' is the 2000 version of, 'Yes we can'. They both ran on a platform of change, and the most glaring similarity is their utter lack of experience. Bush and Obama made claims that their inexperience made them outsiders capable of chaning 'business as usual' Washington. Bush didn't know who the president of Pakistan was, Obama guaranteed to meet with Ahmedinejad in the first year of his presidency without preconditions. Both statements made their campaigns and supporters wince and bite their nails. Their success despite their lack of substantive discussion of issues, was marketted as refreshing and new. The guy we'd have a beer with, shoot hoops with, but not neccessarily the guy we'd trust to do our taxes. Finally, both marketted experience as a negative. The Obama campaign tags Clinton and McCain as relects of a failed Washington just as Gore was tagged as a with the negatives that President Clinton carried. Conveniently skipping over the knowledge that is attained through experience. Consequently, these two excellent campaigners are rewarded for being totally unprepared to run the country.