[update below]
Drew Westen, professor of psychology at Emory University, has an excellent essay on Obama in today’s New York Times. It’s one of the best I’ve read on him. Certain supporters of Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary campaign—notably Paul Krugman, John Judis, Sean Wilentz, and Sidney Blumenthal—were essentially saying the same things about Obama at the time. Their views mildly irritated me but I regret to say that they were right. It’s all so sad.
UPDATE: There have been a few liberal critiques of Drew Westen’s essay the past couple of days. This one, by Jonathan Chait, is the best I’ve seen. He makes good points, though I don’t think his critique invalidates the thrust of Westen’s argument.
Westen’s article is an interesting read for me insofar as I rarely read critiques of Obama by staunchly partisan liberal Democrats. The partisan extremes, both left and right, have difficulty with that part of the political spectrum trending towards the center, perhaps that explains his incomprehension of Obama.
Interestingly enough, I think Westen would agree with Dick Cheney on deficits (“deficits don’t matter”)!
I recently came across a gallup poll on the political leanings of the American voting public – roughly speaking, 20% liberal, 40% independent (or other), and 40% conservative. Obama’s approval ratings as of today, I believe still hover at around 40%. He appears to have the political wherewithal to maintain such high approval ratings despite the unemployment rate, the bad economy and the relatively small base of liberals. I am even drawn to think that many Americans put Obama’s actions and policies in context, ie in the wake of a financial meltdown and a high deficit inherited from the previous administration.
After 8+ years of in-your-face antagonistic politicking under Bush courtesy of Rove and Ailes, I certainly would not want to have Obama dish out a liberal version with the help of firebrands like Obermann & Krugman. Westen’s endeavor appears to me to be a combination of cynicism and sophistry wherein Democrats are called to mobilize rhetoric to sway what he sees as emotionally-challenged voters. The narrative he wishes for Obama would satisfy like-minded liberal partisans, but not enough voters to comprise a majority.
Thanks for the link, best article on Obama for a long time, very depressing though… we always tend to overestimate the qualities and talents of the leaders we choose.
Which reminds me of a terrible Flaubert quote : “A mesure que l’objet de nos souhaits approche, la volupté qu’on avait entrevue dans leur accomplissement diminue.”