I'm kind of stealing this idea from one of the guests on K.O. last night, who made a comment about the marked contrast between Obama's persona when he is inside versus outside the Beltway.
And, on Hardball, Chuck Toad, er, Todd, made a comment about "It's as if Candidate Obama is standing in for President Obama". By the way, is it just me, or is Chuck Toad, er, Todd one of the biggest disappointments of 2009? I think he did a very credible job during the 2008 election cycle, more often as not offering some new insight or perspective on the daily campaign ebbs and flows. But in his new role for MSNBC he has been a giant dud, often coming close to channeling the viewpoint of asshats at Fox News. But I digress...
Obama asserted in his "Back to School" speech that everyone has something they are good at. What Obama is good at is rhetoric, so, why doesn't he do more of it? Is he afraid of over-exposure? Does he thing "Candidate Obama" and "President Obama" are by definition two different personas?
I submit that we elected "Candidate Obama" because we liked "Candidate Obama", and with the hope that "President Obama" would continue to inspire and motivate us with his soaring-yet-sober rhetoric. Throughout the campaign, he said the things that needed to be said, even if they were politically inconvenient (one proof-point: he immediately called bullsh*t on Clinton and McCain's talk of a gas tax holiday). OK, maybe calling an opponent's campaign point a "political stunt" is itself a political stunt... but my larger point is still valid; Obama has a super-human political ear and voice. Why isn't he using his greatest gifts to advance his agenda?
Back to my subject line, maybe the marble domes and columns and hallways in the White House and the Congress interfere with those super-human political skills.
Despite this anomaly, at this course and speed, Obama's first year will be chalked up as a tremendous success, even if healthcare reform isn't everything it needs to be. But I sure would like to see President Obama being more overtly presidential in Year 2.