Alter on Obama Take Two

Jonathan Alter said Obama wasn't a good communicator in his first year. He says Obama had trouble finding the right vocabulary in the healthcare "debate" (which took up much of the first year). It's conventional wisdom to say that Obama didn't communicate well during the healthcare debate, but Obama was communicating all over the place. I've never seen a president do so many town halls. Healthcare was a complex topic with big enemies. Obama was proposing big change.

But the media was in love with the tea party and the tea party was in love with itself, so during the healthcare "debate" all we got was madness.

Alter also criticizes Obama for not doing more press conferences. He says Obama doesn't like the superficiality of the press. Is there anyone that likes the job that the press has done when it comes to important things like healthcare or invading Iraq? I like that Obama is trying to hold the White House press to a higher standard. It would be appreciated by all if they did raise the bar a bit.

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Obama's Leaderly Ways

Bob Herbert at the NYT says Obama's a leader and at the very least, he will lead. He may make mistakes but unlike Bush, he won't be napping when important decisions need to be made.
In a way, we owe Bush a debt of gratitude for showing us the kind of nation we aspire to be. Four years ago, I don't think America was ready for Obama. But Bush showed us the way.

NYT: But I’ve seen charismatic politicians and pretty families come and go like sunrises and sunsets over the years. There was something more that was making people go ga-ga over Obama. Something deeper.

We’ve been watching that something this week, and it’s called leadership. Mr. Obama has been feeding the almost desperate hunger in this country for mature leadership, for someone who is not reckless and clownish, shortsighted and self-absorbed.

However you feel about his policies, and there are people grumbling on the right and on the left, Mr. Obama has signaled loudly and clearly that the era of irresponsible behavior in public office is over.

However you feel about his policies, and there are people grumbling on the right and on the left, Mr. Obama has signaled loudly and clearly that the era of irresponsible behavior in public office is over.

No more crazy wars. No more torture, and no more throwing people in prison without even the semblance of due process. No more napping while critical problems like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, global warming, and economic inequality in the United States grow steadily worse.

“We remain a young nation,” Mr. Obama said in his Inaugural Address, “but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”

Obama to be Hands-On Leader

This story in the WSJ takes a look at Obama's leadership style:

As that suggests, we may not yet know the details of Mr. Obama's economic-stimulus plan or his policy toward Iran, but we have learned a lot during the transition about the kind of president he will be and the kind of administration he will run.

The period has been instructive as much for what hasn't been said as for what has been said. Little has been said about "delegating power" or "cabinet government," phrases thrown about in past transitions to suggest decision-making would be decentralized so the president can save his time and brain cells for just a few items.

Instead, it is clear that the center of Barack Obama's administration will be Barack Obama himself. There will be more people with big feet on his White House staff than in an NBA locker room.

Beyond that, he intends to be not just commander in chief but communicator in chief, handling both the substantive and the inspirational messages, taking advantage of new communications technologies, and likely mixing it up with the press more than his predecessor did. Read the whole thing.