Watching with admiration from the sidelines as Barack Obama rose from obscurity to the position of power that he is about to assume, I noted many attempts to describe his political style with metaphors from martial arts, as people marveled at the ease of manner and deft skill with which he deflected or avoided assaults and booby-traps. Akido (redirecting the attacker's force) was one analogy commonly used, as was the Rope-a-Dope employed so famously by Muhammad Ali. But now, as he shifts from being a contender for political recognition to being the wielder of great political power, I expect to see another facet of his character revealed; he will use his power discreetly, but to the best effect. Looking at the Joe Lieberman affair, which is currently unresolved, I cannot tell what President-Elect Obama wants done, but I'll bet that the key figures in the
Senate Democratic Caucus know what he wants, and they will see that it is done. One consistent feature of the recent presidential campaign was how the Obama team kept their mouths shut about topics that could have been used to attack John McCain, such as the Keating 5 scandal, until the opportunity to bring it up with maximum impact. Compare that to the premature and disorganized way that the attacks against Obama were rolled out, first by Hilary Clinton, and then by the McCain team. Clearly, Obama's attitude was, have it ready, but hold it back "until you see the whites of their eyes."
Obama's model for his public life continues to be Abraham Lincoln; not that Obama intends to imitate Lincoln to the letter, but to learn from both Lincoln's mistakes and his successes. One point about Lincoln that is often overlooked was how willing he was to work behind the scenes to achieve his goals; whether it was publicly respecting Kentucky's posture of neutrality at the start of the Civil War, while secretly sending munitions to pro-Union militias ("I hope I have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky"), or draining away McClellan's troops, rather than dismissing him as the head of the Army of the Potomac, Lincoln worked by misdirection and secrecy as much as by public pronouncement.
So lately I have been thinking that the most appropriate analogy is to the Bertolt Brecht song translated as Mack the Knife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_the_knife):
Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear,
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jack-knife has MacHeath dear
And he keeps it out of sight.
I would not want to be in Joe Lieberman's shoes.