My First Post Criticizing Obama

Here is a tough, negative Obama ad for North Carolina from Wednesday:



The problem is that I think Obama may not believe a word of this protectionist message. Obama has never struck me as one to be very isolationist, to recognize that the reality of today is that globalization is here to stay. More importantly, during the primary season, Austan Goolsbee, one of his chief economic advisers, was caught downplaying Obama's protectionism to the Canadian consulate in Chicago, saying they shouldn't put too much stock in his recent (at the time) anti-free trade rhetoric. My guess is that this is probably true. However, that doesn’t meant that Obama, cautious as always, has any problem shamelessly pandering to working-class anxiety if it gets him a couple more votes in North Carolina.

For me, this points to a potential problem I see with Obama's presidency: he doesn't like to take risks and sees pandering or accommodation as a solution too often. Now, this is all well and good, up to a point -- his caution has served him extremely well so far and is probably about to make him president. But, if he wins, he will be faced with a daunting set of problems, probably greater than any president has had in recent history. Some of these problems will have popular solutions that he should be able to get enacted (if we can afford it!) – health care comes to mind. But other problems won’t be easily addressed. The Iraq War, energy independence, to name a few, could all face extremely tough opposition. To get anything really substantive done will take strong, risk-taking leadership. But, I have yet to feel satisfied that Obama has this within him. So far, he strikes me as more of a manager than a visionary, challenging leader: On policy he has never taken significantly controversial positions, such as, for example, John Edwards, when he took on the phrase “War on Terror”. Also, the campaign that started as a ray of post-partisan hope has, over the summer, become much more conventional. Obama really should have taken McCain up on his town hall debates. It was a risk, of course, but that’s the point. He has talked so much about changing the way things are done in Washington, but hasn’t been willing to make any real sacrifices to make it happen.

We are in a point in time right now where if certain things aren't done, like on climate change, or certain stances aren't taken, like on executive power or torture, it's possible that the chance to solve these problems in any meaningful way may be lost forever – each year they will be entrenched deeper and deeper into the status quo. Many have warned of the very limited window of opportunity we have to transform our economy in line with the realities of climate change. Effective solutions, such as a gas tax, won't come without pain for both business and the public, yet Obama is offering pie-in-the-sky promises – lying, basically – about ending our dependence on foreign oil within ten years. The Bush Administration has entrenched executive power in every aspect of government. This power needs to be brought back to a place where it’s accountable to the public and Congress, yet will Obama be able to resist the temptations to just go around Congress and the country if he can’t convince them?

Obama is an incrementalist – he's always been skeptical of revolutions. He talks about change coming from the bottom-up, but what happens when it needs to be lead from the top-down? Obama may have to buck conventional wisdom, public opinion, or opinion within his own party. Will he be able to rise to the challenge? From what we’ve seen so far, my answer would have to be: no.