The quote:
"We have spent the last 20 months governing," Obama told Democratic contributors in Austin. "They spent the last 20 months politicking. Now we've got three months to go, and so we've decided, well, we can politick for three months."
He added of his Republican foes: "They've forgotten I know how to politick pretty good."
This is a huge, huge, flaw in the president's understanding of his job. To read into this comment, the president believes that his job is to "govern," then to stop governing and "politick." It reveals a noble, yet completely impractical, idealism about government that has no basis in reality. Politics is not separate from government. The two things are so fused together, they are one and the same phenomenon with different names. If the president believes they are two separate things, he is making a serious error of understanding about modern presidential leadership in America. Furthermore, this sort of error undermines his ability to move his own agenda forward. Mishandling or neglecting politics is malpractice in governing.
This thinking reminds me of George H.W. Bush's beliefs about his role as president. I have an old book on my shelf called The Rhetorical Presidency of George H.W. Bush that described Bush the Elder's philosophy:
Part of Bush's rhetorical self-immolation revolved around his insistence on separating campaign rhetoric (or politics) from the presidential discourse (or governance). To Bush, politics meant the narrow, self-interested activities that one had to engage in to get elected to office: campaigning, taking ideological positions, appealing to the base, using strong language to differentiate oneself from ones opponent, and generating the emotions necessary to move people to active participation in the electoral process. Governance, in contrast, meant broad, consensus-building activities undertaken for the common good. It meant statesmanship, diplomacy, compromise, and legislative achievement. It called for negotiation rather than proclamation, for quiet diplomacy rather than public declarations.
George H.W. Bush had some legislative achievements he can still be very proud of, like the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also had some significant foreign policy successes such as his handling of the reunification of Germany and the relatively peaceful dismantling of the Eastern Bloc. But his one-term presidency cannot be considered pivotal, and certainly not transformational. This sort of thinking about the separation of politics and governing is the reason his presidency was milquetoast. He neglected good politics during a recession. By the time he came out of "governing mode," it was too late.
The president is, more than anything else, a leader of people. Yes, the president has responsibility to execute the law, and this is why he is given a great number of officers and employees to carry out this task. Yes, it is his job to be the head of state, representing the whole of the United States. He is also the head of a party, chief administrative official, and a legislative agenda-setter. But all of these other roles all come as a result of the public spokesman part. In fact, to do the other jobs, the primary one has to be done with great acumen.
In our 24/7, fast-paced world, the president no longer has the luxury of putting the campaign aside after the election to become his own chief of staff. The president has lieutenants for a reason. They conduct the negotiations, govern the bureaucracy, negotiate with Congress. His job is mainly to inspire loyalty in them and make sure they implement his will. The president's political operation has to require his close attention. That is how he maintains his strong connection with the people. This doesn't take him away from governing, it is the fundamental element in governing. As I've argued before, the campaign is never over for a president who is challenging the status quo. A president's power does not rest on statutory authority, but proceeds directly from support from the people.
I've said since January that I believe the White House political staff needs a shake up. Fresh blood needs to be brought in because I do not believe the president's current staff have served him well. Barack Obama is a fantastic politician, but his staff is not keeping up. They all look very, very tired. All they seem to have in their repertoire is boring, forgettable town halls, throwaway Saturday videos, and oatmeal speeches at Democratic fundraisers. Instead of telling their opponents to "stop playing politics," they need to always play politics. They should always play to win with the same resources, staff, coordination, discipline, aggressiveness, and focus they had in 2008.
The buck, however, stops with the man in the chair. The president has got to understand that government and politics cannot be separated if he intends to re-order the nation as fundamentally as he has promised. There is never a time to put aside the messaging, contrasting, and voter intensification work that is the foundation of a strong presidency. It isn't a distraction. It's a key element in governing.