Brand New View

Thoughtful Balancing Act

Barack Obama has thus far acted thoughtfully in his role as President-elect. This bodes well for for his forthcoming administration. A quick review of his recent activities suggests a pragmatic presidential demeanor defined by even temperament. Obama's decision to skip the recent G20 summit in Washington DC, despite pressure from many heads of state to attend, coincided with his public remarks that 'there is only one President at a time'. This simple statement suggests Obama's respect for the office of the President and for the transition process--a time-honored tradition in the U.S.. While Obama is eager to be sworn in so that he can begin reshaping U.S. policy in a number of areas, he is demonstrating appropriate patience as the Bush Administration winds down. Such respectful executive transitions are rare in many countries, but they are a vital component of the U.S. Presidential process. Presidents are Presidents for a full 4 year term, not 3 years 10 months. Obama's visit to the White House to visit with President Bush was, by all reports, a cordial and respectful affair during which private transition discussions occurred free from political blustering or embarrassing previews of changes to come. We all know what changes Obama is likely to enact, including the use of Executive Orders to rescind many Bush policies, but to overtly discuss these with Bush present would have been unseemly and demeaning. Again, despite the well-documented disagreements Obama has with the Bush Administration, his visit demonstrated the thoughtful respect he has for the Presidential transition process. Obama's decision to spend as much time as possible in Chicago before his inauguration reflects his interest in assembling his cabinet and policy plans outside the geographic and political confines (influences) of the Washington DC beltway and, symbolically, says that his future administration is not yet the center of attention. Much has been made of Obama's 'Lincoln-esque' outreach to his former rivals, and for good reason because it shows that Obama is apparently quite serious about setting aside politics as usual in favor of surrounding himself with the best minds. The more recent news of his meetings with Hillary Clinton about being Secretary of State reinforces this view and, if this comes to pass, takes care of several other issues he might otherwise have confronted, including removing her as a political rival in 4 years (and yes, if she does become his choice for Secretary of State, there will undoubtedly still be complications due to Bill and Hillary's many and varied associations). His discussion with John McCain about mutual interests in fixing the broken ways of Washington, including the Bush Administration's controversial use of torture, indicates that Obama is confident enough to embrace his rivals. Obama's rumored choice of Eric Holder as Attorney General brings a skilled, well-known legal mind into the future administration. Holder is also familiar with the politics of Washington, having served in the Clinton Administration as Assistant Attorney General to Janet Reno and he has also been confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 3 different occasions over the years for various legal posts. Rumor also suggests that Obama may keep Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for several more months--a crucial choice necessary to ensuring Obama's longer-term plan to withdraw from Iraq and bolster Afghanistan. Gates has proven to be quite successful in his role, particularly in contrast to his prickly predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. Obama's recent statements that the economy and energy policy are foremost among his priorities indicates that he is paying attention to markets, U.S. citizens, and global conditions, and is not turning a Bush-like deaf ear to the very real challenges confronting the US and the world on both these issues. More tellingly, Obama has not backed off from his 10 year goal to make the U.S. energy-independent by investing in alternative technologies. This is vital to future U.S. economic growth as well as global climate change for reasons too numerous and complex to discuss here. Yesterday, in fact, Obama stated that the U.S. must lead the world in solving the climate issues, a refreshing and needed contrast to the Bush Administration's disregard of climate change the past 8 years. There are many other examples of Obama's thoughtful actions since winning the election on November 4, but suffice to say that his disciplined, calm approach is an important starting point in an effort to rebuild international credibility and reassert the U.S.'s role as a leader based on the power of our example. Arguably, his selection of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff is his most 'controversial' act so far, since Emanuel is not known for being shy or retiring. Instead, Emanuel is bold and aggressive--and his behavior can run roughshod over those that disagree with him. But this is may be a necessary quality in a Chief of Staff, a role that often requires a 'bad cop' personality to push a president's priorities through. Emanuel has a well-regarded and generally respected reputation, despite his attack-dog personality. If Emanuel can help Obama push much of his agenda through Congress in the coming years, then the U.S. will be better off, as will the world.

Extraordinary Times

Without question, Barack Obama's election as President of the United States, is extraordinary. Up until very recently, the thought of an African-American (or any minority) being elected to the highest U.S. political office, was a distant dream. Tremendous progress had been made in civil rights over the past century and particularly since 1965, as countless newspaper accounts have mentioned in recent days. But until Obama's election was official, there was still a gap between promise and reality. Not surprisingly, the reaction from around the world has been very positive. There is an unusual halo of hope surrounding Obama's election. Hope that the U.S. will right the foreign policy wrongs of the past 8 years, from Guantanamo to unilateral belligerence internationally to extraction from Iraq and, ultimately, Afghanistan. Hope that Obama can help the U.S. regain respect and thereby restore a portion of its reputation internationally, if not all of it, over time. Hope that Obama can really remake politics in the U.S. for the better and improve the government's domestic reputation as a result. Hope that public education and health care really can be reformed. Hope that our profligate spending and budgets that have gone off the rails can be curbed. Hope that critical domestic infrastructure redevelopment can occur. And hope that Obama can get the U.S. to lead the world toward more environmentally responsible policies, starting with heavy investment in alternative technologies and energy sources. This places an extraordinary burden on hope. Of course, we need more than hope to navigate the challenges confronting us at this time. Obama knows this. So does the American public as they gave Obama majorities in the House and Senate. His sophisticated "feet on the street" election effort in all 50 states inspired the largest number of voters in decades and gave Obama's presidential bid a sense of greater authenticity than any other U.S. presidential campaign in recent memory, perhaps ever. His huge fund-raising effort from the ground-up was contrary to practices of major U.S. political campaigns of the last several decades and will undoubtedly inspire similar campaign financing strategies in future elections. Of course, while a great deal of hard work, intelligence, and determination led to Obama's victory, he was also aided by an extraordinarily inept current President under whose watch the U.S. started and continues to fight two unpopular and unnecessary wars. Combined with the Bush Administration's incompetence on environmental issues and, more recently, the collapse of the financial markets, and the voters found plenty of turbo-charged reasons to elect somebody entirely different to the Presidency. Obama has given us hope and if the 2 years of his candidacy are any indication, I believe he will succeed at turning words into action that creates long-lasting, positive changes for the U.S and the world. At the same time, one would be foolish to think that Obama will do everything well. He will make mistakes and he will be second-guessed at every turn. That happens with every President. But these are indeed extraordinary times and Obama appears to be an extraordinary person.