Obama: Radical or pragmatist?

last updated 8 January 2015

“Who is Barack Obama?” asked David Brooks in The New York Times. Conservatives view him as a “big-government liberal” and “ruthless” partisan determined to remake the U.S. into a European social democracy. Liberals find him “weak and indecisive,” and far too willing to compromise cherished liberal principles in the battle with evil Republicans. These “diametrically opposed” viewpoints are the products of our new political culture, in which people live in “information cocoons” of like-minded partisans. A more “sensible country” would see Obama for what he is: a “center-left pragmatic reformer.” Obama’s health-care plan, for instance, may be flawed, but it’s quite similar to plans supported in the past by centrist Republicans Mitt Romney and Bob Dole. Similarly, on issues from education reform to terrorism to foreign policy, Obama is nothing like the cartoon figure depicted by Left and Right. In fact, he’s “the most realistic and reasonable major player in Washington.”

Sounds like Brooks has “a man-crush” on the president, said Matt Welch in Reason.com. But let’s look at the facts. Yes, Obama talks like a moderate—remember when he promised a “net spending cut” in the midst of the financial crisis? But “words and deeds are different things.” So he submitted a $1.3 trillion budget with no net spending cut. He talks tough on failing schools, but poured $100 billion into “the education status quo via the stimulus package.” I only wish he were as liberal as critics charge, said Robert Kuttner in HuffingtonPost.com. Only in recent weeks does Obama finally seem to have realized that to move the country forward, he must stop wasting time bargaining with obstructionist Republicans and become a true “partisan progressive.”

Whether he governs from left, right, or center, said Fred Hiatt in The Washington Post, can Obama at least pretend he’s enjoying it? The main reason his poll numbers have dropped is that Obama just “doesn’t seem all that happy being president.” He has made it very clear that he regards “politics with a certain disdain,” wading into crowds or Congress only when necessary. At day’s end, Obama rushes upstairs to be with his family, as if he’s sick of the whole thing. “A secure, self-confident adult,” Obama is undoubtedly healthier than, say, Bill Clinton, who had an endless need for adoration and drama. But people might find it easier to root for Obama if he at least seemed “happy we hired him.”