Character is destiny!
Obama did poorly last week in the debate. Either he was not prepared enough to make a forceful case with facts and details, or he had not thought through the impacts and media reactions to his "be polite" strategy, or he is just not assertive enough to give voice to his disdain for untruth and still has considerable hesitation about expressing negative feelings verbally.
Preparation and media strategy are things he can address before the next debate. He's not however going to become less empathetic or a better actor to give us the image of an assertive black and white decider in one week. The good news is that he doesn't have to.
It would be nice if on top of everything we know and love about our president, his eloquence on hope for change, his courage to oppose a fraudulent war, his vision to deliver health care to 32 million more Americans, his judgment to save the American auto industry, his stewardship of a spiraling economy through rescue, recovery, and reform, his pragmatic leadership of America's foreign policy, and the list goes on, it would be nice if on top of that he was also a great persuader and focused more on making his case than listening to his opponents. But great leaders succeed not by being flawless rather they succeed by making the best of their strengths. Obama has shown occasional ability to be nimble on his feet with unscripted moments, see his destruction of Ryanism during the Republican retreat, but by and large this skill has not been a strategic asset for him so far and his competency there would have to come at or below average for presidents in general. The nuclear weapon in President Obama's campaign and governing arsenal has been his integrity and his unmatched ability to tap in his core to elevate issues to their highest conceptual level and transcend the superficial national conversation about the issue of the day, shining light of truth and wisdom on the path forward. He did that with his 2004 convention speech casting partisanship as unpatriotic. He did that agin with his anti war speech casting the Iraq war as not just unjust but as stupid. He did that again with Jeremiah Wright controversy casting it not as a religious or patriotic issue but one as deep as issues of race and justice in America.
He is the kind of leader that opens doors and expects people to see the path, makes clear points and expects people to see the truth, but is not good at persuading, cajoling, or compelling his followers. We need that too, it's hard to get through the mundane without fire, accountability, and force. But the truly critical and the truly unique situations require a vision to see, wisdom to interpret, and integrity to transcend.
He has those strengths and knows how to leverage them well. President Obama needs to do the same again next Tuesday with Romney. He needs to remind us that the future of investments in our common good, the social safety of our elderly citizens, and prosperity within and outside our borders are too important to be left to analysis of where he was looking at while his opponent was lying. He needs to remind us that while entertainment is good, when it comes to national debate about our country's future, the citizens of United States of America can not make up their minds based on who looked like the better fighter in a ring, but what it is they are fighting for. He needs to acknowledge that he did not persuade, but remind us that he won't stop fighting with everything he's got to get our attention and make sure we make the right choice. He needs to bring up Romney's multiple positions on any number of issues and explain the futility of debating such a person and transcend the purpose of the debate and warn us of complacency. Remind us how the Bush tax cuts of ten years ago lead to voucherisation of Medicare today. Ask if they are willing to pay private tuition fees, private toll fees, and private guards to keep the poor out, in ten years in exchange for tax cuts today that give them pennies back while enriching the millionaires. Then point to Romney and say regardless of what he says tonight this ideology is what he supports and its peddlers are who support him. Instead of saying vote for Romney if you want this future, he needs to say don't vote for Romney because I yawned at a debate. Don't vote for Romeny because I looked down at my notes or because I didn't correct an obvious lie. He needs to say don't vote for Romney because he says a lie masterfully, and assure us that the point of his campaign is to make sure we make the right choice and he won't be giving up until we do.
President Obama has many flaws as a candidate and has left a trail of disappointed followers behind him along the way. But we understand that his strengths more than compensate for his flaws which is why I still support him. In fact I believe he has extraordinary strengths that still make him one of the best presidents we have ever had.
He needs to again remind us what those strenghts are, focus on those and persuade us by those strengths. No need to wallow or or apologize for all his perceived weaknesses.
You leant most about people's character when they are cornered and face stiff challenges. Romeny was in such a situation last week having been consistently behind in polls and under siege on every aspect of every issue from style to substance. His response was to lie his way out of it. That too shows character. President Obama too has a way of showing character when forced in a corner. Will he respond again by transcending the issue?
Character they say is destiny.